Papers
6
Total Citations
678
H-Index
5
About
Yochanan Bigman’s research sits at the intersection of social psychology, human-robot interaction, and machine morality, exploring how people perceive, judge, and collaborate with robots. His most influential work, “Robots at work: People prefer—and forgive—service robots with perceived feelings” (314 citations), reveals that customers are more forgiving of service robots that appear to have emotions, a finding with immediate implications for organizational design. In “Holding Robots Responsible: The Elements of Machine Morality” (182 citations), Bigman investigates the conditions under which people hold robots morally accountable, a foundational question for the ethics of artificial intelligence. He also addresses the classic “uncanny valley” effect, showing in a 2021 study (127 citations) that dehumanizing humanoid robots can reduce discomfort. His work on task assignment in human-robot collaboration (48 citations) demonstrates that people’s willingness to delegate tasks depends on how they perceive a robot’s mind. Bigman’s research consistently reveals the psychological mechanisms—trait attribution, mind perception, and implicit competence judgments—that shape our interactions with increasingly autonomous machines, making him a leading voice in understanding the social dynamics of our robotic future.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Holding Robots Responsible: The Elements of Machine Morality182 citations · 2019
- 3Reducing the uncanny valley by dehumanizing humanoid robots127 citations · 2021
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- 5
- 6Trait attribution explains human–robot interactions2 citations · 2023