From Human-Human to Human-Robot: How Social Psychology Research Methods Can Inform HRI Evaluation

This study explores the potential use of the video rating method commonly used in the social psychology literature (e.g., [9]) in evaluating the quality of human-robot interaction (HRI). Eight independent observers watched 42 video recordings of a participant interacting with a humanoid robot in a "fast-friendship" task and rated the warmth of each interaction. Based on the average of the eight ratings, the interactions were classified into "high" and "low" warmth. Participants who had high-warm interactions reported feeling more positive intergroup emotions (sympathy and excitement) and stronger approach intentions toward robots, indicating that the warmth score accurately captured the quality of the interaction. This work presents a simple yet reliable method to incorporate factors to evaluate intergroup attitudes and suggests potential applications of interpersonal research methods in HRI.