The role of self-disclosure in human-robot interaction

The act of revealing personal information, thoughts, and feelings is known as self-disclosure. Self-disclosure represents an important determinant of liking and is central to the development of close relationships among humans. The present study aimed to investigate the role of self-disclosure in human-robot interaction (HRI). 81 participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions in which they interacted with the humanoid robot NAO. We manipulated whether the robot disclosed personal information or whether the robot asked personal questions to the human interaction partner, so that the participant had to self-disclose. In two control conditions the robot either made factual statements or the robot asked factual questions. Contrary to the hypotheses, the results indicated no immediate statistically significant effects of self-disclosure on the dependent variables robot likability, human-robot interaction quality, future contact intentions, and mind attribution. However, when taking into account participants' tendency to anthropomorphize technology, nature, and the animal world as a covariate, self-disclosure was found to significantly affect participants' tendency to attribute mind to NAO. Furthermore, the results indicate that the form of engagement and dominance in an interaction (i.e., being in the role of a passive listener vs. conversing actively) may affect perceived HRI more than does the content of the verbal exchange. Thus, the paper highlights the importance of considering covariates (i.e., interindividual differences in the tendency to anthropomorphize nonhuman entities) in HRI analyses and points out possible relevant moderators of self-disclosure in HRI.