Social connectedness amplifies the tendency to attribute human traits to robots

A series of three studies conducted in China explored the connection between how connected people feel to others and robot anthropomorphism (their tendency to see robots as having human-like qualities). The researchers found that when individuals felt more socially connected, they were more likely to think of robots as having human traits. This was especially true for people who were genuinely interested in interacting with robots. The research was published in Social Psychological and Personality Science. Anthropomorphism is the tendency to attribute human-like characteristics, emotions, inte...