Mojgan Hashemian

About

Mojgan Hashemian is a researcher specializing in human-robot interaction (HRI), with a particular focus on trust formation, social robotics, and robot persuasion. Her work sits at the fascinating intersection of social psychology and robotics, exploring how robots can effectively engage with and influence human behavior in socially meaningful ways. Hashemian's most influential contribution examines how facial expressions and small talk shape trust in robots, a 2016 paper that has garnered 46 citations and helped establish foundational principles for designing more relatable social robots. Building on this, she has pursued an ambitious research agenda investigating persuasive robotics, drawing on social power theories to understand how robots might leverage reward, coercion, and expertise to influence human decision-making. Her 2019 series of papers on social power in HRI collectively demonstrates the breadth of this inquiry, accumulating over 30 citations combined. More recently, Hashemian has conducted controlled user studies examining specific persuasion strategies, including reward and punishment dynamics, testing these approaches with real participants facing genuine choices. Her earlier work on mood detection through emotion induction further reflects her longstanding interest in making robots emotionally intelligent. Across her career, Hashemian has contributed meaningfully to the growing field of socially aware robotics.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   How Facial Expressions and Small Talk May Influence Trust in a Robot

   46 citations · 2016
2. 2
   The Power to Persuade: a study of Social Power in Human-Robot Interaction

   25 citations · 2019
3. 3
   Do You Trust Me? Investigating the Formation of Trust in Social Robots

   12 citations · 2019
4. 4
   Investigating Reward/Punishment Strategies in the Persuasiveness of Social Robots

   8 citations · 2020
5. 5
   Social Power in Human-Robot Interaction: Towards More Persuasive Robots

   5 citations · 2019
6. 6
   Persuasive Social Robots using Reward/Coercion Strategies

   5 citations · 2020
7. 7
   Determining mood via emotions observed in face by induction

   4 citations · 2014
8. 8
   Persuasive Social Robot Using Reward Power over Repeated Instances of Persuasion

   4 citations · 2021
9. 9
   Persuasive Social Robots using Social Power Dynamics

   2 citations · 2019

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links