제출 Abstract
The negative consequences of abusive user behavior towards (female) conversational agents (CAs) are widely discussed. This online experiment (N = 195) examined the impact of observing such behavior and related emotional expressions by CAs using light to foster observers' empathy towards CAs. We therefore used four different emotion expressions (neutral, joy, anger, sorrow) and two contrary user reactions to a misunderstanding (forgiving, abusive). Participants observed an interaction between Alexa and a user and evaluated the emotional state and perception of Alexa. Results indicate that abusive behavior cause a more negative perception of CAs and emotion expression via light can evoke empathetic reactions. This was stronger for negative emotions and when a congruent interaction context was present. Evoking empathy in the user via emotion expression is a potential solution to inhibit abusive behavior without using submissive verbal expressions that could be problematic in terms of gender stereotypes.
실제 Abstract
Many CAs, like Siri and Alexa, have a female character as studies have shown that both, women and men, find a soft female voice more pleasant (Purington et al., 2017). For Amazon's CA, the Echo, it was also shown that the interaction with it is perceived as more sociable when it is personified as Alexa and not as a device or computer (Purington et al., 2017). However, the female character also leads to stereotypical perceptions and a certain interaction with the CA as well as adverse effects (West et al., 2019). The fact that the sound of a male voice is preferred in authoritative interactions, but a female voice is preferred in helpful or assisting interactions (Mitchell et al., 2011), suggests a certain stereotypical perception of female speech assistants. This is accompanied by the widespread gender bias that women are submissive and tolerant of poor treatment (West et al., 2019). These biases also apply to the interaction with CAs and lead to undesirable effects. De Angeli and Brahnam (2006) have highlighted the link between female attributes of CAs and abusive behavior.
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RQ1: Can CAs display emotions using ambient light?
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RQ2: How does the emotion expression via light affect the participants' emphatic emotional state?
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RQ3: How does the emotion expression via light affect the perception of CAs?
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RQ4: Does the user's abusive behavior affect the perception of a CA from an observer´s perspective?
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RQ5: Do men and women differ in their perceptions of CA’s abuse and its emotional reactions?
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4가지 Light Condition → Abusive/Forgiving Condition
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User Perception → Anthropomorphism, Animacy, Linkeability, Intelligence
