Stereotyping the user: How elders and formal caregivers perceive elder users of companion-type robots
S. Baisch, J. Klasen
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AbstractEven nowadays, negative aging stereotypes are still prevalent among both older and younger people. According to the Stereotype Content Model (Fiske et al., 2002), elders are often stereotyped as warm and friendly, but cognitively frail. Neven (2010) showed that such negative aging stereotypes can be designed into assistive robots for the elders, which might negatively affect the image a particular robot conveys about its user (Schwind et al., 2019). This can reduce robot acceptance in the target group (Dudek et al., 2021). Companion-type robots are particularly suspected of stigmatizing the user (e.g., Sharkey & Sharkey, 2012). Their user image, however, has received little attention in current research. Therefore, key questions are targeted in this study. Firstly, we investigate if and how age-related stereotyping of elder companion-type robot users differs from general ageing stereotypes. Secondly, we assess ageing stereotypes of both elders and formal caregivers, as the latter might have differing perceptions of age and ageing. Since caregivers decide who is offered a companion-type robot, their user image should not be guided by ageing stereotypes. Finally, the current study is, to our knowledge, the first to compare the age-related user images of two different companion-type robots distinct in design (mechanomorph and zoomorph).Keywords: companion-type robot, aging stereotypes, user image, stereotype content model, formal caregivers
S. Baisch, J. Klasen (2022). Stereotyping the user: How elders and formal caregivers perceive elder users of companion-type robots. Gerontechnology, 21(s),4-4
https://doi.org/10.4017/gt.2022.21.s.542.4.sp3