Year: 2025
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Industrial developments are reshaping work environments, raising questions about the role of humans alongside technology. This change creates a need to examine human-robot interaction. A research gap has been identified in human-robot interaction research, which this study aimed to address by examining the roles adopted by employees in human-robot interaction. The objective was to identify the human roles and the factors that influence the formation of roles in human-robot interaction among the United States residents. The research questions were (i) What roles do American employees assume in human-robot interaction in an automated work environment? And (ii) What employee-related factors influence employees’ roles? The data of the study consisted of two parts, secondary and primary data. The secondary data was textual data produced by 503 United States residents who wrote their thoughts about a fictional work situation with a robot. The primary data examined the actual experiences of 161 United States residents working with robots and their perceived and experienced roles as robot colleagues. Qualitative data were analyzed using inductive content analysis, and quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis. Five different roles were identified from the secondary data: Developer, Enthusiast, Neutral, Uncertain, and Opponent. The Developer is a future-oriented and progressive employee. The Enthusiast finds human-robot interaction meaningful and values humor and well-being at work. The Neutral has an objective attitude towards robots, without strong opinions or emotions. The Uncertain employee finds work with robots unpleasant and feels insecure without human colleagues. The Opponent has a critical attitude towards robots and values human input more than robots. In addition, four alternative roles were identified from the primary data: Manager, Operator, Supporter, and Passive. The Manager focuses on human resources and developing work. The Operator does practical work with robots and uses them to enhance their work. The Supporter enables the operation of robots by taking care of their maintenance and technical tasks. The Passive avoids robots or misuses them, neglecting their expertise. The results suggested that the employees' socioeconomic status, personality traits, attitudes, and experiences with robots can affect their role when working with robots. Recognizing different roles in human-robot interaction is important from a management perspective so that technology can be utilized to support human work following the Industry 5.0 philosophy.
Source: Osuva (University of Vaasa)
Author: Ojajärvi, Laura
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7036298315