A Systematic Review of the Personality of Robot: Mapping Its Conceptualization, Operationalization, Contextualization and Effects

Abstract

Robots are becoming prevalent as they could socially interact with humans and provide service or companionship. As people attribute personality traits to machines, the personality of robot (POR) has attracted considerable scholarly attention from researchers of human-robot interaction. However, due to the complexity of personality, the ways to design personality into robotics vary on a wide range. This systematic review attempts to map the approaches to designing the personality of robot and understand its effects on human-robot interaction. Following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, a review of 40 peer-reviewed publications was conducted. The conceptualization, operationalization, contextualization and effects of POR were summarized in the review. In general, positive POR was preferred and associated with desirable social responses. Suggestions on future design of robotics were discussed. Specifically, it is recommended that the design of POR should match users’ expectations in different social contexts. Social cues such as eye gaze, gestures, and voice should be applied at a self-explanatory level to help users efficiently predict and engage with the behaviors of social robots.