Sun Kyong Lee

About

Sun Kyong Lee is a leading researcher in human-robot interaction, with a focused expertise in trust repair mechanisms following robotic failures. Her work systematically investigates how different types of robot errors—from performance breakdowns to social missteps—affect user trust, and critically, which repair strategies most effectively restore it. Her highly cited 2023 paper, “Sorry, it was my fault”: Repairing trust in human-robot interactions (49 citations), established foundational insights into the power of apology and blame acceptance. Lee’s research is distinguished by its cross-cultural perspective, as demonstrated in her 2025 study examining how national context shapes the effectiveness of trust repair. By integrating sociocultural factors into the design of resilient human-robot relationships, her contributions are vital for developing robots that can maintain long-term collaboration with users across diverse global settings.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   “Sorry, it was my fault”: Repairing trust in human-robot interactions

   49 citations · 2023
2. 2
   Effects of Failure Types on Trust Repairs in Human–Robot Interactions

   16 citations · 2023
3. 3
   “But You Shouldn’t Blame Me”: A Cross-National Comparison of the Effects of Performance Failures and Trust Repairs in Human–Robot Interactions

   1 citations · 2025

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links