When Should a Robot Apologize? Understanding How Timing Affects Human-Robot Trust Repair

If robots are to occupy a space in the human social sphere, then the importance of trust naturally extends to human-robot interactions. Past research has examined human-robot interaction from a number of perspectives, ranging from overtrust in human robot interactions to trust repair. Studies by [15] have suggested a relationship between the success of a trust repair method and the time at which it is employed. Additionally, studies have shown a potentially dangerous tendency in humans to trust robotic systems beyond their operational capacity. It therefore becomes essential to explore the factors that affect trust in greater depth. The study presented in this paper is aimed at building upon previous work to gain insight into the reasons behind the success of trust repair methods and their relation to timing. Our results show that the delayed trust repair is more effective than the early case, which is consistent with the previous results. In the absence of an emergency, the participant’s decision were similar to those of a random selection. Additionally, there seem to be a strong influence of attention on the participants’ decision to follow the robot.