The black sheep effect : the case of the deviant ingroup robot

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Abstract

The black sheep effect (BSE) describes the evaluative upgrading of norm-compliant group members (ingroup bias), and evaluative downgrading of deviant (norm-violating) group members, relative to similar outgroup members. While the BSE has been demonstrated extensively in human groups, it has yet to be shown in groups containing robots. This study investigated whether a BSE towards a ‘deviant’ robot (one low on warmth and competence) could be demonstrated. Participants performed a visual tracking task in a team with two humanoid NAO robots, with one robot being an ingroup member and the other an outgroup member. The robots offered advice to the participants which could be accepted or rejected, proving a measure of trust. Both robots were also evaluated using questionnaires, proxemics, and forced preference choices. Experiment 1 (N = 18) manipulated robot grouping to test our group manipulation generated ingroup bias (a necessary precursor to the BSE) which was supported. Experiment 2 (N = 72) manipulated the grouping, warmth and competence of both robots, predicting a BSE towards deviant ingroup robots, which was supported. Results indicated that a disagreeable ingroup robot is viewed less favourably than a disagreeable outgroup robot. Furthermore, when interacting with two independent robots, a “majority rule” effect can occur in which each robot’s opinion is treated as independent vote, with participants significantly more likely to trust two unanimously disagreeing robots. No effect of warmth was found. The impact of these findings for human-robot team composition are discussed.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0222975
Number of pages20
JournalPLoS One
Volume14
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2019 Steain et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Keywords

  • group identity
  • human-computer interaction

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