Presentation
The Influence of Perceived Empathy and Negative Attitudes on Trust in Home Healthcare Robotic Agents Among Older Adults
SessionWednesday Poster Session
DescriptionAs socially assistive robots (SARs) and conversational agents are increasingly introduced into home settings, understanding how older adults develop trust in these systems is essential. This study examined how perceived affective and cognitive empathy were associated with trust in an in-home robotic agent, and whether negative attitudes toward robots moderated these associations. In a video-based experiment, 224 U.S. adults aged 65 to 84 were assigned to either an empathic or neutral (control) dialogue condition and viewed an animated agent across 24 scripted in-home scenarios, after which they reported perceived affective empathy, perceived cognitive empathy, and trust. Results showed that the empathy manipulation increased both perceived empathy dimensions. Both dimensions were positively associated with trust, with perceived cognitive empathy showing a stronger association than perceived affective empathy. Negative attitudes toward robots weakened the association between perceived affective empathy and trust but strengthened the association between perceived cognitive empathy and trust. These findings suggest that empathy operates as a dual pathway to trust, while skepticism may shift trust formation toward perceived cognitive empathy, offering implications for adaptive design for older adults.
Event Type
Poster
TimeWednesday, October 21st5:30pm - 6:30pm PDT
Location