Trust of Simulated Robotic Peacekeepers among Resident and Expatriate Americans

摘要

Researchers have heavily debated the definition and role of trust in human behavior over the past few decades. As robots begin to be used more often, particularly in international military applications, understanding human-robot trust becomes increasingly important. The current study aims to investigate trust differences in robotic peacekeepers between Americans living in the United States, China, and Japan using a simulated environment. We predicted that trust in robots would differ as a function of culture. Results showed that Americans residing in Japan were significantly more trusting than Americans in the United States or China overall. Further, Americans living in America trusted robotic peacekeepers significantly more than Americans residing in China. This suggests that people who adopt a certain trust framework are those who have chosen to live abroad, but more research is needed to understand the differences between resident and expatriate Americans.