Sari R. R. Nijssen
Radboud University Nijmegen, University of Vienna, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Papers
6
Total Citations
261
H-Index
5
About
Sari R. R. Nijssen is a social and developmental psychologist whose research sits at the compelling intersection of human-robot interaction, moral psychology, and social cognition. Her work explores the fundamental question of how people perceive, relate to, and make ethical decisions about robots, particularly as these machines grow increasingly human-like in both appearance and behavior. Nijssen's most influential contribution — "Saving the Robot or the Human?" (2019, 105 citations) — demonstrated that anthropomorphic appearance and mind attribution meaningfully shape people's moral decision-making toward robotic agents, suggesting that how human a robot looks can confer upon it a degree of moral consideration. Her subsequent research expanded this framework, examining how human-like appearance relates to perceptions of robot danger (2020, 68 citations) and how children engage prosocially with robots (2021, 35 citations). Notably, Nijssen has also investigated children's neural processing of robotic movements, bringing developmental neuroscience into the conversation. Across her body of work, Nijssen consistently reveals that the boundaries between "person" and "machine" are psychologically porous, with profound implications for robot design, ethics, and policy. Her scholarship offers essential reading for anyone navigating the social and moral challenges of an increasingly automated world.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Saving the Robot or the Human? Robots Who Feel Deserve Moral Care105 citations · 2019
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