Papers
19
Total Citations
933
H-Index
13
About
Markus Appel is a leading researcher in human-robot interaction and social psychology, whose work has fundamentally shaped our understanding of how people perceive and respond to humanoid and android robots. His scholarship centers on the psychological dimensions of robot acceptance, the uncanny valley phenomenon, and the role of media and narrative in shaping attitudes toward emerging technologies. Appel's most influential contributions examine the complex emotional and cognitive responses humans have to increasingly lifelike machines. His widely cited 2018 study on shifting European attitudes toward autonomous robots (217 citations) and his 2019 exploration of robots as tools, agents, and experiencers (202 citations) reveal the nuanced and evolving nature of public perception. His rigorous investigations into the uncanny valley — including nonlinear modeling of discomfort responses and field experiments demonstrating that science fiction exposure can reduce eeriness — have provided researchers with both theoretical depth and practical insight. Beyond perception, Appel has ventured into provocative territory, including robotic storytelling and persuasion, immersive media comparisons, and the social psychology of sex robots. Collectively accumulating nearly 950 citations, his body of work offers students and researchers an indispensable foundation for understanding the human side of the robotics revolution.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 4Science fiction reduces the eeriness of android robots: A field experiment68 citations · 2015
- 5Human-Like Robots and the Uncanny Valley62 citations · 2022
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- 8Otakuism and the Appeal of Sex Robots44 citations · 2019
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