Jamie Poston

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Jamie Poston is a pioneering researcher in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), with a focus on the social and psychological dynamics between people and machines. Their work critically examines how robot design—particularly physical size—shapes human perceptions of mistreatment and emotional capability. In their highly cited 2016 study, *“Too big to be mistreated?”* (33 citations), Poston demonstrated that people perceive larger robots as less emotionally vulnerable to abuse, revealing a bias that has profound implications for robot ethics and design. This research challenges assumptions about anthropomorphism and highlights how robot morphology influences moral treatment. Poston also explores team cohesion in mixed human-robot groups. Their 2015 paper, *“Team-Building Activities for Heterogeneous Groups of Humans and Robots”* (10 citations), is among the first to investigate how structured activities can foster cooperation and positive group identity when humans and robots collaborate. By bridging social psychology and robotics, Poston’s work informs the development of more empathetic, effective, and ethically-aware robotic systems for workplaces and society. Their contributions are essential reading for anyone interested in the future of human-robot collaboration, social robotics, and the ethics of artificial intelligence.