Anthropomorphism Moderates the Relationships of Dispositional, Perceptual, and Behavioral Trust in a Robot Teammate

Trust plays a critical role in the success of human-robot teams (HRTs). While typically studied as a perceptual attitude, trust also encompasses individual dispositions and interactive behaviors like compliance. Anthropomorphism, the attribution of human-like qualities to robots, is a related phenomenon that designers often leverage to positively influence trust. However, the relationship of anthropomorphism to perceptual, dispositional, and behavioral trust is not fully understood. This study explores how anthropomorphism moderates these relationships in a virtual urban search and rescue HRT scenario. Our findings indicate that the moderating effects of anthropomorphism depend on how a robot’s recommendations and its confidence in them are communicated through text and graphical information. These results highlight the complexity of the relationships between anthropomorphism, trust, and the social conveyance of information in designing for safe and effective human-robot teaming.