Social attributes of intelligent robots are important for human-robot systems. This paper investigates influences of robot autonomy (i.e., high versus low) and group orientation (i.e., ingroup versus outgroup) on a human decision-making process. We conducted a laboratory experiment with 48 college students and tested the hypotheses with MANCOVA. We find that a robot with high autonomy has greater influence on human decisions than a robot with low autonomy. No significant effect is found on group orientation or on the interaction between group orientation and autonomy level. The results provide implications for social robot design. 1. Introduction Robots play an increasingly important role in our daily life. More and more robots move out from laboratories into everyday life providing services or decision support for human beings. Recent research exploring the influence of a robot’s attributes on human decision-making has shed some light on designing social robots, from their physical attributes to the organization of the human-robot team (e.g., [1–3]). The current research focuses on two of the less explored but important factors in the human-robot decision-making process: robot autonomy and group orientation. Current technology allows for different levels of robotic autonomy, which describes to what degree a robot can act on its own accord. Determining a proper level of autonomy can benefit the interaction between a human and a robot. Autonomy has been studied comprehensively in designing industrial robots (e.g., [3, 4]). However, determining an appropriate autonomy level of social robots that are in close interaction with human remains to be solved. Additionally, as the social robot is increasingly endowed with human natures (e.g., voice, appearance, and motion), it is necessary to define its social identity, as we generally do with human beings. Group orientation of a robot toward its human partner is one of the essential identities, especially in a collaborative decision-making process. Prior research about human decision-making process has revealed that humans tend to have contrasting attitudes toward ingroup and outgroup members [5]. Similarly, when a social robot is perceived as an ingroup member by the interacting human, it may receive different evaluations and exert different levels of influence on human decisions compared with a robot that is perceived as an outgroup member. Therefore, this study investigates the influences of autonomy level and group orientation of a social robot on a human decision-making process and on human’s subjective
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