Self-Disclosure to a Robot "In-the-Wild": Category, Human Personality and Robot Identity

Abstract

Self-disclosures can be valuable and sensitive parts of the human-robot interaction. This paper investigates how far human's tendency to self-disclose depends on the topic of interaction, individual's personality and perceived robot identity (i.e., human-, robot-or animal-like). Robot's (Pepper) identity was shown in its self-disclosure, interaction behaviors (gestures, sound and voice), and "clothing". In an"in-the-wild"study at a science festival, 80 visitors interacted with one of these robot identities. When questioned by the robot, they disclosed more about their attitudes and opinions than about other categories. Significant correlations appeared between personality characteristics and the degree of self-disclosure, as well as differences in self-disclosure categories. The different robot identities showed no effects on disclosures.