Manipulating anthropomorphic inferences about NAO: The role of situational and dispositional aspects of effectance motivation

In an experiment we empirically tested one key determinant of Epley's Three-Factor Theory of Anthropomorphism: Specifically, we investigated the interplay of both dispositional and situational facets of effectance motivation in predicting anthropomorphic inferences about the robot NAO. That is, we manipulated the predictability of the robot's behavior and whether participants anticipated an interaction with NAO. Innovatively, we also examined interindividual differences in participants' desire for control, a dispositional aspect of effectance motivation. Taken together, we go beyond previous work by (1) increasing ecological validity of the experimental setting; by (2) extending the range of measures to assess anthropomorphism, and by (3) examining the role of contextual and dispositional components of effectance motivation for anthropomorphism. Because this is the first work to study the interplay between these factors, our work contributes to a better theoretical and empirical understanding of psychological anthropomorphism.