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Do women perceive sex robots as threatening? The role of political views and presenting the robot as a female-vs male-friendly product
Abstract
The development of sex robots has sparked numerous debates on the consequences of their use in terms of human-technology relations, interpersonal relationships and changes in social norms. Ethical concerns about the potential negative influence of sex robots on women's situation in society are reinforced by the market as most sex robots are still intended for male customers. The main aim of two experimental studies was to examine whether sex robots are perceived by heterosexual women as a sexual threat and whether this potential threat could be decreased by depicting the robots as products suitable for women. We also examined whether the perception of robots as a threat is related to conservative and liberal political views. The results show that, after the presentation of a sex robot as a product suitable for women, the sense of sexual threat was lower than when a sex robot was presented as designed for men but only among participants with more liberal views. More conservative women perceived sex robots as a threat regardless of whether they are designed for women or men. Thus, incorporating political views can be crucial in examining the social perception of new and controversial technologies, such as sex robots.
... As of now, the research on such factors has primarily focused on the individual characteristics that may relate to people's willingness to engage erotically with robots (e.g., have sex with robots or be interested in intimate relationships with sex robots; Brandon et al., 2022;Döring et al., 2020;Dubé et al., 2022bDubé et al., , 2022cNordmo et al., 2020;Oleksy & Wnuk, 2021;Szczuka & Krämer, 2017). For instance, erotophilia and sexual sensation seeking were positively related to people's willingness to experience a sexual episode with a robot (Dubé et al., 2022c;Richards et al., 2017); fear of rejection positively predicted men's attractiveness ratings of female-looking robots -or gynoids (Szczuka & Krämer, 2017); and the Big-Five's openness trait was positively associated with more positive attitudes toward human-robot intimate relationships (Deniztoker, 2019;Dubé et al., 2022c). ...
... These attitudes were also negatively related to men's attractiveness ratings of gynoids (Szczuka & Krämer, 2017). Moreover, the Big-Five's agreeableness trait was negatively associated with positive attitudes toward human-robot intimate relationships (Deniztoker, 2019); and Oleksy and Wnuk (2021) recently showed that political views may influence attitudes toward sex robots. Specifically, they found that more liberal women perceived these robots as less threatening when they were also designed for women, compared to being exclusively designed for men. ...
... Specifically, they found that more liberal women perceived these robots as less threatening when they were also designed for women, compared to being exclusively designed for men. More conservative women, however, perceived sex robots as threatening, regardless of whether they were intended for women or men (Oleksy & Wnuk, 2021). ...
Robots designed to elicit sexual arousal are coming. Sexual arousal can increase our willingness to engage in risky or unconventional sexual behaviors. However, researchers have yet to examine whether this effect extends to robots. Hence, this study provides the first empirical evidence that state sexual arousal can increase our willingness to engage erotically with robots. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that levels of sexual arousal would positively predict willingness to engage erotically with robots (Hypothesis 1); and that men would be more willing to engage erotically with robots than women (Hypothesis 2). A convenience sample of 321 adults (≥18y) completed a two-part online survey measuring their willingness to have sex with, love, engage in an intimate relationship with, and be friends with a robot and a human before and after viewing a sexually explicit video. The results partly support Hypotheses 1-2. They show that state sexual arousal increases willingness to have sex with a robot, and that men are more willing to have sex and engage in an intimate relationship with a robot than women, pre- and post-manipulation. These findings are important given the rise of sex robots and their potential influence on our intimate decisions and behaviors.
... Several studies argue that the existing sex robots are mostly female sex robots because men are the prominent supporters and consumers of sex robots while they are also the leading designers and producers of sex robots (Danaher and McArthur, 2017;Szczuka and Krämer, 2017;Oleksy and Wnuk, 2021). Richardson (2015) argues that it is the objectification of females. ...
... However, their general results did not validate the idea that females would feel less threatened if sex robots were presented as female-friendly products. After adding political factors as the moderating variables, the result was obtained among females who tend to be more liberal (Oleksy and Wnuk, 2021). ...
... The female subjects showed a generic result without any additional moderating variables that females hold negative attitudes because of how sex robots exist, and females present a better adoption of heterogender sex robots. It somewhat contradicts the result of Oleksy and Wnuk's (2021) survey. This result answered the question that females could accept sex Li . ...
The market for sex robots is on the rise with the development of human–computer interaction. However, most sex robots on the market are presented as male-friendly products. This issue may limit and hinder females' adoption and utilization of sex robots. This paper was to take females as the research subjects exploring and verifying several concerns based on previous theories and to conduct primary research and quantitative method to investigate: (i) how females differently perceive same-gender and heterogender sex robots; (ii) their attitudes and the knowledge or definition of sex robots; and (iii) their intention of adopting heterogender robots. This study confirmed several previous theories and provided new findings and insights. Females are more likely to feel threatened by the presence of same-gender sex robots. Their negative attitudes are related to the way that sex robots exist. They are jealous of same-gender sex robots; nevertheless, this should not be attributed to their negative perception of sex robots since they also have positive perceptions and intentions to adopt a sex robot. They define sex robots more as sexual products than as engaging in the prostitution industry.
... On the other hand, fear of rejection-but not their loneliness, social anxiety, need to belong, or tendency to anthropomorphize technology-positively predicts said ratings (Szczuka & Krämer, 2017). There is also evidence that younger compared to older people may be more interested in sex robots (Brandon & Planke, 2021), and that political views can influence people's attitudes toward sex robots (e.g., conservative women are more threatened by sex robots than liberal women; Oleksy & Wnuk, 2021). To date, however, the most consistent predictor of interest in sex robots remains gender. ...
... After all, such groups represent large potential markets for sex robots and remain, to this day, the main consumers of sex toys (Döring & Pöschl, 2019a;Wilner & Huff, 2017). In that regard, there is preliminary evidence suggesting that, if sex robots were designed for them, some women may be more interested in these machines (Oleksy & Wnuk, 2021). ...
... These results are consistent with previous findings on sex robots, personality traits (Deniztoker, 2019;Richards et al., 2017), and political views (Oleksy & Wnuk, 2021). They are also consistent with previous findings gender differences between ciswomen and cismen when it comes to their potential engagement with and attitudes toward sex robots Brandon & Planke, 2021;HuffPost, 2013;Nordmo et al., 2020;YouGov, 2017YouGov, , 2020. ...
Examining the links between personality traits and attitudes toward sex robots can provide insights into who may desire such machines, and why. This online study thus examined the associations between the Big-Five, traits related to sexuality, technology, and (sexual) novelty, and people's willingness to engage with and perceived appropriateness of using sex robots in a convenience sample of 492 adults (≥18 years; 283 ciswomen, 171 cismen, and 37 non-binary and gender nonconforming individuals with access to the recruitment material on social media, the Concordia University participant pool, or flyers/word-of-mouth in the Montreal Community). Correlational analyses showed that willingness to engage with and perceived appropriateness of using sex robots were more closely related to erotophilia and sexual sensation seeking than any other traits. Mixed repeated measures ANOVAs and independent samples t-tests with Bonferroni corrections also showed that cismen and non-binary/gender nonconforming individuals were more willing to engage with sex robots and perceive their use as more appropriate than ciswomen. These findings suggest that erotophilic individuals seeking novel or more intense sexual experiences may be(come) the primary users of sex robots and influence their development. These findings are important given the growing place of technology in our intimate lives and relationships.
... The technologies in Experiment 2 were of one of three types: sex robots, sex toys, or virtual reality games/characters. These three types of technology were chosen to range from the familiar realm of sex toys, with which large proportions of the adult public are already comfortable [58,65], to the relative unfamiliarity of virtual reality [12], and the often uncanny world of sexual robots [30,66]. This approach allowed us to separately assess the effects of physical stimulation from the type of technology that provided that stimulation, generating a more general test of our hypotheses concerning physical sophistication and jealousy. ...
... This may be due to two straightforward factors. First, sex toys already exist and are part of public discussion [58,59,65], so they may be less unfamiliar and perhaps hold less taboo than virtual reality [12] or sex robots [30,66]. Second, there has been sustained media interest in sex robots over the past decade, and much discussion about potential downsides like furthering the objectification of and violence against women (see [2,8,75]). ...
Technologies that stimulate human social and sexual impulses could affect users and societies. Here, we report on two experiments designed to test participant responses to (1) “virtual friend” chatbots that vary in capacity to engage users socially and emotionally (i.e., emotional sophistication) and (2) “digital lover” technologies—in the form of sex toys, sex robots, or virtual reality entities—that vary in capacity to physically stimulate users (i.e., physical sophistication). Participants (173 female, 176 male) read vignettes that each described a particular technology and then answered whether, if their romantic partner were to use the described technology, they would anticipate jealousy or anger, and whether they would prefer to see the technology banned. Participant anticipations of jealousy and anger were so similar that we combined them in a single composite measure. In experiment 1, both the anticipation of jealousy-anger and the inclination to ban chatbots increased with emotional sophistication, particularly in female participants. In experiment 2, both sexes anticipated greater jealousy-anger and were more inclined to ban more physically sophisticated digital lovers. Female participants expressed higher levels of both responses across the range of sophistication. Experiment 2 participants were more likely to anticipate jealousy-anger and more inclined to ban sex robots than sex toys or virtual reality lovers. Our results show only limited consistency with evolutionary theories concerning sex differences in jealousy. Generally, the anticipated levels of jealousy-anger and inclination to ban the described technologies were low, suggesting low levels of resistance to the idea of the technologies.
... Following the principles of ambivalent-sexism theory, men's interested in engaging in sexual relations with feminine-coded robots (e.g., Appel et al., 2019;Oleksy & Wnuk, 2021) may be linked to hostile sexist disdain for women's sexuality. Whether robots are treated like humans may ultimately be determined by whether people view robots as part of a same or different social group. ...
Incremental advancements in technology present researchers with opportunities to examine and predict human behavior before the integration of technology into daily life. Previous studies have identified trends in both the design and reception of current social robotic technologies, including gender biases and social "othering", which may affect how humans interact with more advanced robotic technologies in the future. The aim of the current study was to explore whether preconceived beliefs about gender inequality, interest in casual sex, and social hierarchies would relate individuals' interest in engaging in platonic friendships ("robofriendship") or sexual relationships ("robosexuality") with hypothetical human-like robots. Two-hundred and twelve participants completed an online survey measuring gender, ambivalent sexism, social dominance orientation, and sociosexual orientation in relation to individuals' interest in both robofriendship and robosexuality. It was found that hostile sexism positively predicted interest in robo-sexuality, particularly for men (β = .16, b = .27, 95% CI [.03, .30], t(209) = 2.364, p = .019). Conversely, hostile sexism negatively predicted robofriendship, and significant interactions effects were found in that at lower levels of SDO, women maintained greater interest in robofriendship than men (β = .26, b = .54, 95% CI [.09, .99], t(208) = À2.235, p = .02). The current study provides preliminary evidence to suggest that preconceived beliefs about social hierarchy and gender inequality may impact romantic and platonic interactions between humans and robots. Limitations and future directions are also discussed.
... Previously, scholars often cited little or no empirical evidence to substantiate their arguments, but this is now changing (Döring et al. (2020); Hanson and Locatelli (2022); Harper and Lievesley (2020)). Social scientific approaches that utilize data as a means of answering philosophical and ethical questions about how sex dolls, sex robots, and their owners and users are becoming more common (for some examples, see Appel et al. (2019); Desbuleux and Fuss (2023a); Devlin and Locatelli (2020); Dubé et al. (2022aDubé et al. ( , 2023Dubé et al. ( , 2022b; Eichenberg et al. (2019); Hanson (2022Hanson ( , 2023b; Harper et al. (2023); Langcaster-James and Bentley (2018); Middleweek (2021); Nordmo et al. (2020); Oleksy and Wnuk (2021); Szczuka and Krämer (2019); van Voorst (2022); Zara et al. (2022)). ...
In light of repeated calls for empirically driven analyses of sex doll and sex robot owners and users, I outline key methodological challenges researchers in this field currently face. I discuss how methodological limitations have shaped the field thus far and narrowed the scope of empirical research to date. To resolve these issues, I propose strategies for improving archival, quantitative, and qualitative approaches for future scholarship. Specifically, I attend to issues of historicity, nomenclature, population, sampling, qualitative approaches, and research ethics. I conclude with a discussion of how the stigma associated with sex dolls, sex robots, and sex tech amplifies the need for researchers to respect and adhere to ethical research practices yet still maintain a critical distance that directly confronts, rather than skirts, dilemmas related to use, ownership, and production. This methodological reckoning will help scholars design more robust studies and effectively evaluate innovations in the field.
... Furthermore, our society often has a limited view about female sexuality and reduces it to the procreational sphere. A survey on sexually explicit media (SEM) [48] showed that the way sex robots are designed and promoted promotes unreal beauty standards and sexual performance, and this may provoke anxieties and fears in women. It could be beneficial to produce and propose sex robots designed with a stronger female-centered vision. ...
Although the importance of the sexual sphere for the health of all human beings has been recognized at an international level, often this is underestimated when it comes to disabilities and even more to intellectual disabilities. In fact, the idea that subjects with intellectual disabilities are not aware of their bodies and of their wishes in the sexual and emotional field is still widespread in our society, in such a way that they are considered as children in need of constant supervision. Moreover, further hints of criticism that can be raised are about the poor level of sexual education that is dedicated to these subjects, both by family members and by therapists. The last decades have been characterized by a considerable growth in the technological sector and many new instruments have been successfully used in the field of healthcare of weak or disabled subjects. A particularly fruitful branch has been robotics which, in subjects with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD), has revealed itself as an excellent support to stimulate communication and develop social skills. As in recent years the field of robotics has also been characterized by a strong interest in the sphere of sexuality, building and implementing what we now define as sex robots or sexbots, it could be interesting to start a debate on the potential that these new generation artificial agents could have in the field of care of subjects with ASD. These robots, possessing a technology based on stimulating verbal and nonverbal interaction, could be useful for an education that is not only sexual but also psycho-emotional in subjects with ASD.
... Research on sex doll owners has revealed a diversity of use patterns that include sexual interaction (e.g., sexual intercourse with the doll) but also social interaction (e.g., dining and watching TV with the doll) as well as physical care work (e.g., washing, powdering, and dressing the doll). Another research strand explores attitudes toward sex robots, intentions to use and to buy a sex robot with the help of surveys and vignette experiments where the robot is described to the participants or pictures of the robot are shown (Szczuka and Krämer, 2017a,b;Appel et al., 2019;Nordmo et al., 2020;Oleksy and Wnuk, 2021). Even though first theoretical models of the psychological mechanisms of sex robot use have been presented , so far, no empirical data are available on sexual and social interactions with actual sex robots or about long-term sex robot users. ...
The Corrigendum only concerns the addition of the second first author also as a corresponding author.
See full paper below.
... Some suggest that the media, societal norms, and sex robot manufacturers fabricate men's apparent greater interest in sex robots (Troiano et al., 2020). Indeed, some women demonstrate interest in sex with robots (Oleksy & Wnuk, 2021), and robots are already being designed to appeal to female consumers. Nonetheless, the fundamental and substantial discrepancy between male and female psychology (Archer, 2019;Meyers-Levy & Loken, 2015), biology (De Vries & Forger, 2015) and sexual behavior suggests that males will exhibit more interest in and hold more positive attitudes about sex robots than will women. ...
... Research on sex doll owners has revealed a diversity of use patterns that include sexual interaction (e.g., sexual intercourse with the doll) but also social interaction (e.g., dining and watching TV with the doll) as well as physical care work (e.g., washing, powdering, and dressing the doll). Another research strand explores attitudes toward sex robots, intentions to use and to buy a sex robot with the help of surveys and vignette experiments where the robot is described to the participants or pictures of the robot are shown (Szczuka and Krämer, 2017a,b;Appel et al., 2019;Nordmo et al., 2020;Oleksy and Wnuk, 2021). Even though first theoretical models of the psychological mechanisms of sex robot use have been presented , so far, no empirical data are available on sexual and social interactions with actual sex robots or about long-term sex robot users. ...
Based on its prevalence, there is an urgent need to better understand the mechanisms, opportunities and risks of sexual interaction in digital contexts (SIDC) that are related with sexual arousal. While there is a growing body of literature on SIDC, there is also a lack of conceptual clarity and classification. Therefore, based on a conceptual analysis, we propose to distinguish between sexual interaction (1) through, (2) via, and (3) with digital technologies. (1) Sexual interactions through digital technologies are face-to-face sexual interactions that (a) have been started digitally (e.g., people initiating face-to-face sexual encounters through adult dating apps) or (b) are accompanied by digital technology (e.g., couples augmenting their face-to-face sexual encounters through filming themselves during the act and publishing the amateur pornography online). (2) Sexual interactions via digital technology are technology-mediated interpersonal sexual interactions (e.g., via text chat: cybersex; via smartphone: sexting; via webcam: webcam sex/camming). (3) Sexual interactions with digital technology occur when the technology itself has the role of an interaction partner (e.g., sexual interaction with a sex robot or with a media persona in pornography). The three types of SIDC and their respective subtypes are explained and backed up with empirical studies that are grouped according to two major mediators: consent and commerce. Regarding the causes and consequences of the three types of SIDC we suggest a classification that entails biological, psychological, social, economic, and technological factors. Regarding implications of SIDC we suggest to focus on both opportunities and risks for sexual health. The proposed conceptual framework of SIDC is meant to inform future research.
Several technological and scientific developments have arisen to enhance the human condition. Transhumanism is an intellectual movement that gathers different knowledge sectors to attain a physical and psychological fullness state, with capacities that surpass a human as is known today. These advances have led to a remarkable development in human–robot interaction, an interaction science that studies how technology could influence human behavior. Social robots are part of this science, looking to improve the interaction between robots and the general population in everyday contexts. Sex robots, being part of social robots, have gained a lot of importance in the industry. But, does any relationship exist between transhumanism and sexuality? Some authors have proposed beneficial sex robots in sexual dysfunctions and older adults. However, several contradictors state that sex robots will not be helpful, but they may aggravate these conditions. Further studies are needed to assess the real impact of these devices on sexual dysfunctions, as lack of evidence prevents firmly recommending them as part of treatment protocols.
Recent developments foretell that social robots will soon become an integral part of everyday life, offering companionship and intimate closeness of different kinds. While research thus far is limited in scope and data, the current research offers two studies into how and why gender affects social robots’ acceptance among European and American participants. Study 1 ( N = 26,344) is used to identify overall patterns, while Study 2 ( N = 426), divided into quantitative and qualitative analyses, is used to investigate specific differences in accepting four types of robots: helpers, companions, lovers, and sex partners. Results show that women have significantly less positive attitudes toward social robots as lovers and sex partners than men. The qualitative analyses of Study 2 show that this is due to women seeing such robots more negatively in terms of social norms, psychological health, morality, and functionality. The study further offers an axis system, on which attitudes toward robots can be theorized and examined.
The most ambitious visions of metaverse technology promise to create virtual places that offer the same possibilities as the real world. However, as any novel technology, the metaverse raises controversies and questions. Does one want to migrate to the metaverse? Does one's willingness to move to virtual worlds depend on the bonds with existing virtual places and the sense of threat related to this technology? To address these questions, we drew on the theories of place attachment and intergroup threat. In two studies – (1) among users of open-world games (N = 366) and (2) using a sample representative of the Polish population in terms of age, gender and size of the residential place (N = 995) – we observed a low level of willingness to migrate to the metaverse. The participants displayed a high level of perceived metaverse-related threat, ranging from privacy concerns to the belief that metaverse can deprive one of access to essential human experiences. However, greater attachment to virtual, as opposed to real, places was associated with both an increased willingness to migrate to the metaverse and a low level of perceived threat. The results provide a better understanding of individuals' perception of the metaverse and of how the bonds with virtual and real places translate into attitudes towards metaverse technology.
The most ambitious visions of metaverse technology promise to create virtual places that offer the same possibilities as the real world. Implementation of these plans can become the next milestone on the road to the ongoing exodus from real places to digital ones. However, as any novel technology, the metaverse raises controversies and questions. Does one want to migrate to the metaverse? Does one’s willingness to move to virtual worlds depend on the bonds with existing virtual places and the sense of threat related to this technology? To address these questions, we drew on the theories of place attachment and intergroup threat. In two studies – (1) among users of open-world games (N = 366) and (2) using a sample representative of the Polish population in terms of age, gender and size of the residential place (N = 995) – we observed a low level of willingness to migrate to the metaverse. The participants displayed a high level of perceived metaverse-related threat, ranging from privacy concerns to the belief that metaverse can deprive one of access to essential human experiences. However, greater attachment to virtual, as opposed to real, places was associated with both an increased willingness to migrate to the metaverse and a low level of perceived threat. The results provide a better understanding of individuals’ perception of the metaverse and of how the bonds with virtual and real places translate into attitudes towards metaverse technology.
Abstract
Purpose of Review Developments in human-like and personified sex tech require familiarity with a range of technologically sophisticated sex toys. Most sex toys approximating full-sized human bodies are inanimate, but recent advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, and digital interfaces are being incorporated into sex toy designs with the aim of providing humanized sexual and emotional experiences for users. This narrative review of scholarship on sex dolls, sex robots, and other forms of personified sex tech covers theoretical debates, recent empirical findings, and identifies gaps for future research in this field.
Recent Findings Review of 87 scholarly books, articles, and essays reveals several trends in the field. First, despite continued calls for empirically driven work, the bulk of research on sex dolls, sex robots, and personified sex tech continues to be theoretical. In some cases, theoretical models discussing how people might be affected by human-like and personified sex tech have outpaced the technological capabilities of sex toy manufacturers. Another trend is the noticeable focus on developments and users in North American and European countries. Finally, sex doll ownership is primarily researched and theorized in ways that center heterosexual men as the primary users. While empirical research shows that single middle-aged heterosexual men use sex and sex robots more than women, developments in personified sex tech may push the industry in new directions.
Summary Current debates about sex dolls, sex robots, and personified sex tech frame such devices around the potential for escalation and harm reduction. Although more empirical attention is being paid to users' motivations and experiences, a dearth of research directly addresses these debates. More research in needed to refine theoretical assertions about the potential benefits and harms of human-like and personified sex tech. Specifically, robust quantitative data and samples from outside of Western contexts are needed to better assess how such technologies affect users.
The intersection of technology and sexuality in sex toys and erobots – artificial erotic agents (e.g. sex robots) – may generate stigma with their use. However, despite the growing prevalence of technology in human sexuality, researchers have yet to examine this stigma. Hence, this study provides the first quantitative evidence of perceived stigma related to erotic technology use (PSETU) and its association with people’s willingness to engage with erotic technologies. Based on previous research, we hypothesised that PSETU exists and increases as a function of products’ human-likeness (Hypothesis 1), and negatively correlates to participants’ willingness to engage with erotic technologies (Hypothesis 2), with stronger associations for women and sex toys and stronger associations for men and erobots (Hypothesis 3). A convenience sample of 365 adults (≥18 years; with access to the recruitment material) completed an online survey measuring their PSETU for sex toys, erotic chatbots, virtual partners, and sex robots, and their willingness to engage with these technologies. The results support Hypothesis 1, and partly support Hypotheses 2–3. Women and men also perceive the same technology-related stigma. These findings are important given the prevalence of sex toys, the advent of erobots, and the potential impact of stigma on their (future) users.
Understanding people’s attitudes toward sex robots will be essential to facilitate this technology’s likely assimilation into human relationships in a way that maximizes benefit and minimizes conflict within the privacy of people’s bedrooms. This online survey was developed to investigate attitudes toward sex robots. Questions were chosen to explore a variety of emotional, behavioral, and sexual variables that could potentially be pertinent to individual’s receptivity to sex with robots. There were 376 respondents, 84.1% of which were heterosexual. Self-reports of depression, social anxiety, attention deficit disorder, and Asperger’s spectrum all correlated positively with receptivity toward sex robots. Challenges with monogamy, more lifetime sex partners, higher frequency of masturbation, more pornography consumption, greater consumption of alcohol and marijuana, and more frequent use of video games also all correlated positively with receptivity toward sex robots. Curiously, receptivity toward sex robots correlated positively with both the experience of sexual pleasure with human partners and with the experience of anxiety during sex with a human partner. It is our belief that research in this area is paramount to assist psychologists, anthropologists, roboticists, and couples in navigating the intimate challenges of the future.
Background
Although sex toys representing human body parts are widely accepted and normalized, human-like full-body sex dolls and sex robots have elicited highly controversial debates.
Objective
This systematic scoping review of the academic literature on sex dolls and sex robots, the first of its kind, aimed to examine the extent and type of existing academic knowledge and to identify research gaps against this backdrop.
Methods
A comprehensive multidisciplinary, multidatabase search strategy was used. All steps of literature search and selection, data charting, and synthesis followed the leading methodological guideline, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist. A total of 29 (17 peer reviewed) and 98 publications (32 peer reviewed) for sex dolls and sex robots, respectively, from 1993 to 2019 were included.
Results
According to the topics and methodologies, the sex doll and sex robot publications were divided into 5 and 6 groups, respectively. The majority of publications were theoretical papers. Thus far, no observational or experimental research exists that uses actual sex dolls or sex robots as stimulus material.
Conclusions
There is a need to improve the theoretical elaboration and the scope and depth of empirical research examining the sexual uses of human-like full-body material artifacts, particularly concerning not only risks but also opportunities for sexual and social well-being.
Researchers and media commentators often claim that young people are increasingly learning about sex through pornography, but evidence about this is unclear. This article reports on a mixed methods systematic review of research on pornography use for sexual learning. Ten articles were included that explicitly addressed how porn users describe the educational aspects of pornography. Thematic analysis located five key themes about ‘porn education’ in these articles: learning the mechanics of sex; learning concerning sexual identities and sexualities; inadequate information through pornography; wrong lessons from pornography; and a need for more relevant sex education. No articles attempted to measure or discuss whether people who access pornography have better (or worse) skills and knowledge about sex and sexual health than those who do not. Sex education is only discussed in relation to young people, neglecting attention to lifelong learning about sex and sexuality. According to this dataset, pornography use can offer useful information about the mechanics of sex, and this is particularly pertinent for young gay men. Many articles reveal that young people are often aware of the shortcomings of pornography as a source of information and guidance, and that improvements to sex and relationships education are necessary.
Sex robots may be surfacing in recent controversy, but they are certainly not a
novelty in the academic debate. However, given the lack of legal reasoning in this
field of research, this article aims at examining the balancing of the fundamental
rights involved in the sex robots’ manufacture and usage, taking
Asimov’s first law as the main starting point and with an eye to a future
lawmaking process. Specifically, Section 1 gives a brief overview on how to define sex robots, while
distinguishing them from sex toys and pornography. Section 2 interprets Asimov’s first law
in order to apply it to sex robots. Section 3 develops a pertaining legal reasoning based on competing
fundamental rights, i.e. the user’s sexual freedom and the
manufacturer’s freedom of enterprise versus the gender dignity and right to
equality. Finally, the conclusions review the main findings and address
considerations to policymakers.
Physical and emotional intimacy between humans and robots may become commonplace over the next decades, as technology improves at a rapid rate. This development provides new questions pertaining to how people perceive robots designed for different kinds of intimacy, both as companions and potentially as competitors. We performed a randomized experiment where participants read of either a robot that could only perform sexual acts, or only engage in non-sexual platonic love relationships. The results of the current study show that females have less positive views of robots, and especially of sex robots, compared to men. Contrary to the expectation rooted in evolutionary psychology, females expected to feel more jealousy if their partner got a sex robot, rather than a platonic love robot. The results further suggests that people project their own feelings about robots onto their partner, erroneously expecting their partner to react as they would to the thought of ones’ partner having a robot.
Automation is becoming ever more prevalent, with robot workers replacing many human employees. Many perspectives have examined the economic impact of a robot workforce, but here we consider its social impact: how will the rise of robot workers affect intergroup relations? Whereas some past research suggests that more robots will lead to more intergroup prejudice, we suggest that robots could also reduce prejudice by highlighting commonalities between all humans. As robot workers become more salient, intergroup differences—including racial and religious differences—may seem less important, fostering a perception of a common human identity (i.e., “panhumanism.”) Six studies (∑N= 3,312) support this hypothesis. Anxiety about the rising robot workforce predicts less anxiety about human out-groups (Study 1) and priming the salience of a robot workforce reduces prejudice towards out-groups (Study 2), makes people more accepting of out-group members as leaders and family members (Study 3), and increases wage equality across in-group and out-group members in an economic simulation (Study 4). This effect is mediated by panhumanism (Studies 5-6), suggesting that the perception of a common human in-group explains why robot salience reduces prejudice. We discuss why automation may sometimes exacerbate intergroup tensions and other-times reduce them.
Purpose
The technological revolution in the service sector is radically changing the ways in which and with whom consumers co-create value. This conceptual paper considers social robots in elderly care services and outlines ways in which their human-like affect and cognition influence users’ social perceptions and anticipations of robots’ value co-creation or co-destruction potential. A future research agenda offers relevant, conceptually robust directions for stimulating the advancement of knowledge and understanding in this nascent field.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing from service, robotics and social cognition research, this paper develops a conceptual understanding of the value co-creation/destruction potential of social robots in services.
Findings
Three theoretical propositions construct an iterative framework of users’ evaluations of social robots in services. First, social robots offer users value propositions leveraging affective and cognitive resources. Second, users’ personal values become salient through interactions with social robots’ affective and cognitive resources. Third, users evaluate social robots’ value co-creation/destruction potential according to social cognition dimensions.
Originality/value
Social robots in services are an emerging topic in service research and hold promising implications for organizations and users. This relevant, conceptually robust framework advances scholarly understanding of their opportunities and pitfalls for realizing value. This study also identifies guidelines for service managers for designing and introducing social robots into complex service environments.
Social robots are becoming increasingly prevalent in everyday life and sex robots are a sub-category of especially high public interest and controversy. Starting from the concept of the otaku, a term from Japanese youth culture that describes secluded persons with a high affinity for fictional manga characters, we examine individual differences behind sex robot appeal (anime and manga fandom, interest in Japanese culture, preference for indoor activities, shyness). In an online-experiment, 261 participants read one out of three randomly assigned descriptions of future technologies (sex robot, nursing robot, genetically modified organism) and reported on their overall evaluation, eeriness, and contact/purchase intentions. Higher anime and manga fandom was associated with higher appeal for all three future technologies. For our male subsample, sex robots and GMOs stood out as shyness yielded a particularly strong relationship to contact/purchase intentions for these new technologies.
In his seminal book “Love and Sex with Robots”, David Levy (Love and sex with robots: the evolution of human–robot relations, Harper, New York, 2007) predicted that intimate human–robot relationships will be normalized by 2050. So far, only a very small number of early adopters of love and sex robots has experienced these kinds of relationships. The majority of the population only learns about love and sex with robots through media representations, be they fictional (e.g., movies and TV series) or non-fictional (e.g., newspaper and magazine articles). The current study therefore aimed at analyzing the media representations of intimate human–robot relationships. The three research questions, based on Sexual Script Theory, addressed characteristics (1) of the involved human partner, (2) of the involved robot partner, and (3) of their mutual intimate relationship. A quota sample of N = 710 media examples from different genres (48% non-fictional, 52% fictional, originating from 1927 to 2014) was drawn and subjected to quantitative media content analysis. Results indicate that media representations of intimate human–robot relationships tend to portray the involved human partner as a man who is disadvantaged in interpersonal relationships. At the same time, media often portray the involved robot partner as a humanoid female sex robot. While non-fictional media describe intimate human–robot relationships more often in sexual terms, fictional media focus more on emotional aspects, cohabitation and even procreation between humans and robots. Overall, media representations of intimate human–robot relationships reveal stereotypical gender roles, heteronormativity and a focus on sexual versus emotional intimacy. Implications for the future development and use of love and sex robots are discussed.
Many societies are on the brink of a robotic era. In the near future, various autonomous computer systems are expected to be part of many people’s daily lives. Because attitudes influence the adoption of new technologies, we studied the attitudes towards robots in the European Union between 2012 and 2017. Using representative samples from 27 countries (three waves, total N = 80,396), these analyses showed that, within five years, public opinions regarding robots exhibited a marked negative trend. Respondents became more cautious towards the use of robots. This tendency was particularly strong for robots at the workplace, which are, despite the drop, still more positively evaluated than robots performing surgeries or autonomous cars. Attitudes were more positive among men and people in white-collar jobs. Moreover, countries with a larger share of older citizens evaluated robotic assistance more favorably. In general, these results highlight increasing reservations towards autonomous robotic systems in Europe.
The manufacture of humanoid robots with embedded artificial intelligence and for sexual purposes has generated some debates within bioethics, in which diverse competing views have been presented. Themes such as sexuality and its deviations, the objectification of women, the relational problems of contemporary life, loneliness, and even the reproductive future of the species constitute the arguments which have emerged in relation to this subject. Based on these themes, this article presents the current state of the use of female sex robots, the bioethical problems that arise, and how bioethics could serve as a medium for both thinking about and resolving some of these challenges.
While first empirical studies on sexual aspects of human-robot interaction mostly focus on male users’ acceptance, there is no empirical research on how females react to robotic replications of women. To empirically investigate whether robots can evoke the same kind of jealousy-related discomfort as do other women, we conducted an online study in which 848 heterosexual female participants from Germany reacted to the idea that their partner had sexual intercourse with either another woman, a human-like female-looking robot, or a machinelike female-looking robot. The results revealed dimensions in which the jealousy-related discomfort was higher for female competitors compared to the robotic ones (e.g., discomfort caused by the idea of sexual intercourse),whereas in others the robots evoked the same or higher levels of jealousy-related discomfort (e.g., discomfort caused by feelings of inadequacy, discomfort caused by shared emotional and time resources). The variance in the discomfort regarding sexual interactions between one’s partner and robotic competitors could not be explained by personal characteristics (such as self-esteem, subjective physical attractiveness) but rather by technology-related variables (e.g., negative attitude towards robots, a tendency towards anthropomorphism) and the attitude towards sexual nonexclusivity in relationships. The study provides first empirical insights into a question which is of relevance for a responsible handling of sexualized technologies.
The current study aimed to integrate and test the sociocultural model of disordered eating with theories explaining the impact of mass media on the development of disordered eating for users of three popular social networking platforms. Young women social networking site (SNS) users (age 18-24) who had never received an eating disorder diagnosis (N = 637) completed questions capturing their SNS gratifications and usage, body surveillance, social comparisons, body dissatisfaction, and eating pathology. Measures were administered in one online session. Model relationships were similar across users of all three SNS platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Users of all platforms demonstrated a significant positive relationship between upward comparisons and disordered eating outcomes, and between body surveillance and disordered eating outcomes, although differences between models did emerge. Empirical findings support extending the sociocultural model of disordered eating to include SNS uses and gratifications.
In the 21st century, sexual products such as sex toys, sex dolls and sex robots are openly marketed on the Internet. The online retailer Amazon alone provides literally thousands of sexual wellness products. The Internet has done with sexual products what it has already achieved with pornography: it has expanded and diversified the market, made sexual products more accessible and affordable, and thus normalized their use. Research, though, is lagging behind: in comparison to the large body of pornography studies, research on sexual products, their users, uses and outcomes is scarce. The present paper therefore reviews both the state of technological development and the state of research regarding sex toys, sex dolls and sex robots marketed on the Internet. For each of these three groups of sexual product, we first present the range of products available and then provide data on their users and use. Finally, outcomes of sexual product use are discussed based on theoretical assumptions, available data and selected user experiences. Operating within a Positive Sexuality Framework (Williams et al., 2015) and a Positive Technology Framework (Riva et al., 2012), both rooted in the Positive Psychology Approach (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000), the paper argues that sexual products have the potential to improve sexual well-being in various populations. Health professionals working in the field of sexuality need to be well-informed about the ever-evolving market of more and more technologically advanced sexual products. It is their call to foster both, the health-related use of existing sexual products and health-related development of future sexual products.
Currently, there is a dual threat to children (and society) in the United States:— (1) the lack of explicit criminalization of the production, distribution, receipt, possession, use, or possession with intent of distribution of child sex dolls and robots; and (2)— the absence of clear guidelines, due to courts’ differing interpretation of the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today Act (PROTECT Act) of 2003, which could potentially be utilized to prohibit some of the aforementioned activities.
The often narrow representations of sexual performance and physical attractiveness in pornography may be linked to sexual concerns and sexual expectations among young men and women (e.g., body- and performance-related sexual distractions, negative genital self-image, expectations of one's partner). Investigation of the relations between these constructs is needed to assess the potential impact of pornography on young adult's sexual lives. Undergraduate men (n=333) and women (n=668) completed an online survey assessing pornography viewership, body- and performance-related cognitive distractions during sexual activity, genital self-image, and pornography-based partner expectations. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that visual pornography viewership was uniquely associated with higher partner performance expectations among women. Among men, visual pornography viewership was uniquely associated with body- and performance-related cognitive distractions during sexual activity. Literary pornography use was not uniquely associated with these variables among men or women. The results of this investigation suggest that individuals who consume visual pornography may experience some forms of sexual insecurity and sexual expectations related to their pornography use. Importantly, many sexual concerns were unrelated to pornography consumption, which is consistent with research in favour of pornography consumption as a healthy sexual outlet for young adults.
Objectives:
Amid public health concern that rising pornography use may have a negative impact on young people's health and wellbeing, we report prevalence of pornography viewing and explore factors associated with viewing frequency and age at first viewing.
Methods:
Cross-sectional online survey in a convenience sample of Victorians aged 15 to 29 years recruited via social media.
Results:
Ever viewing pornography was reported by 815 of 941 (87%) participants. The median age at first pornography viewing was 13 years for men and 16 years for women. More frequent pornography viewing was associated with male gender, younger age, higher education, non-heterosexual identity, ever having anal intercourse and recent mental health problems. Younger age at first pornography viewing was associated with male gender, younger current age, higher education, non-heterosexual identity, younger age at first sexual contact and recent mental health problems.
Conclusions:
Pornography use is common and associated with some health and behavioural outcomes. Longitudinal research is needed to determine the causal impact of pornography on these factors. Implications for public health: Viewing pornography is common and frequent among young people from a young age and this needs to be considered in sexuality education.
Sexualbezogene Internetnutzung (Internetsex) ist heute alltaglich und gut erforscht. Am Ubergang vom Internet- zum Roboter-Zeitalter stellt sich nun die Frage nach der sexualbezogenen Roboternutzung (Robotersex). Die vorliegende Arbeit zeigt auf, dass Robotersex heute schon Realitat ist und in der internationalen Fachliteratur seit rund zehn Jahren diskutiert wird. Anhand unterschiedlicher Quellen (Fachliteratur, Presseberichterstattung, Produktwerbung, Erfahrungsberichte der Kunden) wird rekonstruiert, was wir bislang uber Robotersex und dessen negative wie positive Folgen wissen. Der Beitrag pladiert dafur, dass sich die Sexualwissenschaft dem Gegenstand Robotersex zuwendet und die technischen Artefakte, die Nutzenden und die Nutzungsweisen verstandnisorientiert erforscht. Ethische Verantwortung im Digitalzeitalter lasst sich nicht durch „kritische Distanz“ zur technischen Entwicklung wahrnehmen. Stattdessen ist heute, im fruhen Stadium der Technikgenese, aktive Mitgestaltung vonseiten sexualwissenschaftlicher Fachleute gefragt, um moglichst konstruktive Umgangsweisen mit Robotersex zu finden, sei es im Privatleben oder auch im Zuge sexueller Bildung und Therapie.
While some theories, such as the Media Equation, suggest that men will evaluate sex robots to be attractive, other assumptions (e.g., biases of norm adherence) would contradict this hypothesis. Therefore, the present study aimed at empirically comparing men’s explicit and implicit evaluation of the (sexual) attractiveness of sex robots and women. At the same time, personal characteristics of the observer that might affect this evaluation were considered. An online survey (n = 229) and an affective priming experiment (n = 41) revealed that men rate women to be more attractive than robots if asked explicitly (=self-reported). However, this effect is not present when attractiveness is assessed implicitly (unbiased, directly). Moreover, affiliation-related traits such as loneliness, which have been assumed to be associated with the usage of sex dolls, are not related to the evaluation of attractiveness. Instead, a negative attitude towards robots is an important predictor.
Women’s sexual desire, agency, and activity have long been stigmatized. In contemporary times, however, adult novelty parties, or gatherings where women can learn about and purchase sex toys or other sensual aids in a group setting, are widespread. The current pervasiveness of novelty parties may be indicative of greater acceptance of women’s sexuality in contemporary Western society. The goal of the present study is to determine whether young people are more accepting of women’s sexuality and desire via their evaluations of women who attend novelty parties relative to more traditional kitchen product parties. In two experiments, U.S. college students read either a novelty party catalog or a kitchen party catalog, and they evaluated hypothetical female attendees of their respective party catalog type across ten total domains. In Experiment 1 (n = 205), novelty party attendees were rated as more vivacious, less traditional, and more insecure than were kitchen party attendees. In Experiment 2 (n = 211), women were harsher than men on novelty party attendees compared to kitchen party attendees in most domains, and men rated novelty party attendees as more masculine than kitchen party attendees, whereas women rated novelty party attendees as less masculine and feminine than kitchen party attendees. Applied and social implications of the present results are discussed, highlighting ways to improve perceptions of women’s sexual desires and pleasure.
The publication of the book “Love and Sex with Robots”, late in 2007 by Dr. David Levy, heralded a new era in this somewhat controversial field. Human-Robot intimate relationships were no longer pure science fiction but had entered the hallowed halls of serious academic research. This book chapter presents a summary of significant activity in this field during the recent years, and predicts how the field is likely to develop. We will also detail about our research in physical devices for human-robot love and sex communication.
Introduction: Research suggests that body image affects sexual functioning, but the relationship between specific types of body image (evaluative, affective, and behavioral) and domains of sexual functioning (desire, arousal, and orgasm) has not been investigated.
Aim: To determine whether, and to what degree, body image concerns (evaluative, affective, and behavioral) influence aspects of women’s sexual functioning (desire, arousal, and orgasm).
Methods: Eighty-eight sexually active women in heterosexual romantic relationships completed surveys assessing evaluative, affective, and behavioral body image and sexual functioning. Body composition data also were collected using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry.
Main Outcome Measures: Sexual functioning was assessed using the desire, arousal, and orgasm subscales of the Female Sexual Functioning Index.
Results: Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that poor evaluative, affective, and behavioral body image were detrimental to women's sexual functioning. Specifically, dissatisfaction with one's body predicted decrements in desire (β = −0.31, P < .05) and arousal (β = −0.35, P < .01). Similarly, feeling that others evaluate one's body negatively predicted decrements in desire (β = 0.22, P < .05) and arousal (β = 0.35, P
The purpose of this study was to compare male and female college students in four countries (Canada, Germany, Sweden, and the U.S.) on their lifetime experiences (prevalence) and frequency of recent experiences with six types of online sexual activities (OSA): sexual information, sexual entertainment, sexual contacts, sexual minority communities, sexual products, and sex work. Participants (N = 2690; M age, 24.65 years; 53.4 % women, 46.6 % men) were recruited from a university in each of the countries to complete an online survey that included background and demographic questions, and questions about OSA. Most participants reported experience with accessing sexual information (89.8 %) and sexual entertainment (76.5 %) online. Almost half (48.5 %) reported browsing for sexual products, and a substantial minority reported having engaged in cybersex (30.8 %). Very few participants (1.1 %) paid for online sexual services or received payment (0.5 %). In general, participants showed relatively infrequent experience with all types of OSA within the last 3 months. Men showed both higher prevalence and frequency of use of sexually stimulating material online than did women. However, this gender gap was smaller than in previous studies. Country and gender by country effects were (with one exception) either very small or non-existent, suggesting that, overall, students in the four countries were similar in their OSA experiences. Results are discussed in light of an emerging global net generation and globalized sexual culture.
A recent White House Council Report on Women and Girls called attention to sexual assault on college campuses and encouraged continued research on this important public health problem. Media that sexually objectify women have been identified by feminist scholars as encouraging of sexual assault, but some researchers question why portrayals that do not feature sexual assault should affect men's attitudes supportive of violence against women. Guided by the concepts of specific and abstract sexual scripting in Wright's (Communication Yearbook 35:343-386, 2011) sexual script acquisition, activation, application model of sexual media socialization, this study proposed that the more men are exposed to objectifying depictions, the more they will think of women as entities that exist for men's sexual gratification (specific sexual scripting), and that this dehumanized perspective on women may then be used to inform attitudes regarding sexual violence against women (abstract sexual scripting). Data were gathered from collegiate men sexually attracted to women (N = 187). Consistent with expectations, associations between men's exposure to objectifying media and attitudes supportive of violence against women were mediated by their notions of women as sex objects. Specifically, frequency of exposure to men's lifestyle magazines that objectify women, reality TV programs that objectify women, and pornography predicted more objectified cognitions about women, which, in turn, predicted stronger attitudes supportive of violence against women.
Pornography use among emerging adults in the USA has increased in recent decades, as has the acceptance of such consumption. While previous research has linked pornography use to both positive and negative outcomes in emerging adult populations, few studies have investigated how attitudes toward pornography may alter these associations, or how examining pornography use together with other sexual behaviours may offer unique insights into the outcomes associated with pornography use. Using a sample of 792 emerging adults, the present study explored how the combined examination of pornography use, acceptance, and sexual behaviour within a relationship might offer insight into emerging adults' development. Results suggested clear gender differences in both pornography use and acceptance patterns. High male pornography use tended to be associated with high engagement in sex within a relationship and was associated with elevated risk-taking behaviours. High female pornography use was not associated with engagement in sexual behaviours within a relationship and was general associated with negative mental health outcomes.
This paper will explore the ethical impacts of the use of affective computing by engineers and roboticists who program their machines to mimic and manipulate human emotions in order to evoke loving or amorous reactions from their human users. We will see that it does seem plausible that some people might buy a love machine if it were created, but it is argued here that principles from machine ethics have a role to play in the design of these machines. This is best achieved by applying what is known about the philosophy of love, the ethics of loving relationships, and the philosophical value of the erotic in the early design stage of building robust artificial companions. The paper concludes by proposing certain ethical limits on the manipulation of human psychology when it comes to building sex robots and in the simulation of love in such machines. In addition, the paper argues that the attainment of erotic wisdom is an ethically sound goal and that it provides more to loving relationships than only satisfying physical desire. This fact may limit the possibility of creating a machine that can fulfill all that one should want out of erotic love unless a machine can be built that would help its user attain this kind of love.
This article offers objectification theory as a framework for understanding the experiential consequences of being female in a culture that sexually objectifies the female body. Objectification theory posits that girls and women are typically acculturated to internalize an observer's perspective as a primary view of their physical selves. This perspective on self can lead to habitual body monitoring, which, in turn, can increase women's opportunities for shame and anxiety, reduce opportunities for peak motivational states, and diminish awareness of internal bodily states. Accumulations of such experiences may help account for an array of mental health risks that disproportionately affect women: unipolar depression, sexual dysfunction, and eating disorders. Objectification theory also illuminates why changes in these mental health risks appear to occur in step with life-course changes in the female body.
This study examined correlates of pornography acceptance and use within a normative (nonclinical) population of emerging adults (individuals aged 18—26). Participants included 813 university students (500 women; M age = 20 years) recruited from six college sites across the United States. Participants completed online questionnaires regarding their acceptance and use of pornography, as well as their sexual values and activity, substance use, and family formation values. Results revealed that roughly two thirds (67% ) of young men and one half (49%) of young women agree that viewing pornography is acceptable, whereas nearly 9 out of 10 (87%) young men and nearly one third (31%) of young women reported using pornography. Results also revealed associations between pornography acceptance and use and emerging adults' risky sexual attitudes and behaviors, substance use patterns, and nonmarital cohabitation values. The discussion considers the implications of pornography use during the transition to adulthood.
While research with individuals on the autistic spectrum has increased strongly, there is still a lack of research on autism/autistic traits in older adults. Children with autism have been proposed to benefit from interactions with social robots; for older adults, the potential role of robotics is currently being discussed. We combined these topics by assessing both young and older (Mean age = 22 vs. 69 years) neurotypical adults’ evaluations of various humanoid robots presented in video clips, on multiple dimensions (likeability, companionship, dominance, threat, human-likeness). We additionally assessed autistic traits (Autism Spectrum Questionnaire – AQ) and Big-Five personality traits. Remarkably, older adults evaluated robots as more likeable. Compared to young adults, older adults also showed significantly higher levels of autistic traits (particularly in the AQ social interaction subscale), higher levels of conscientiousness, and lower levels of openness. We found strong positive correlations between ratings of likeability and human-likeness of robots across groups, and particularly in participants with high levels of autistic trait. Across robots, data also provided evidence for the uncanny valley phenomenon. Favourable evaluations of robots by older adults suggest potential for older adults on the autistic spectrum to benefit from social robots.
Purpose
Besides the direct physical health consequences, through social isolation COVID-19 affects a considerably larger share of consumers with deleterious effects for their psychological well-being. Two vulnerable consumer groups are particularly affected: older adults and children. The purpose of the underlying paper is to take a transformative research perspective on how social robots can be deployed for advancing the well-being of these vulnerable consumers and to spur robotic transformative service research (RTSR).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper follows a conceptual approach that integrates findings from various domains: service research, social robotics, social psychology and medicine.
Findings
Two key findings advanced in this paper are (1) a typology of robotic transformative service (i.e. entertainer, social enabler, mentor and friend) as a function of consumers' state of social isolation, well-being focus and robot capabilities and (2) a future research agenda for RTSR.
Practical implications
This paper guides service consumers and providers and robot developers in identifying and developing the most appropriate social robot type for advancing the well-being of vulnerable consumers in social isolation.
Originality/value
This study is the first to integrate social robotics and transformative service research by developing a typology of social robots as a guiding framework for assessing the status quo of transformative robotic service on the basis of which it advances a future research agenda for RTSR. It further complements the underdeveloped body of service research with a focus on eudaimonic consumer well-being.
While research and development related to robotics has been going on for decades, the past decade in particular has seen a marked increase in related efforts, in part due to technological advances, increased technological accessibility and reliability, and increased commercial availability. What have come to be known as social robots are now being used to explore novel forms of human-robot interaction, to understand social norms, and to test expectations and human responses. To capture the contributions of these research efforts, identify the current trends, and future directions, we systematically review 10 years of research in the field of social robotics between 2008 and 2018, which includes 86 publications with 70 user studies. We classify the past work based on the research topics and application areas, and provide information about the publications, their user studies, and the capabilities of the social robots utilized. We also discuss selected papers in detail and outline overall trends. Based on these findings, we identify some areas of potential future research.
The growing cultural conversation about sexual consent comes at a time in which new technologies with potential implications for sexuality norms are also beginning to emerge in the marketplace. ‘Sex robots’ – anthropomorphic sex toys ‘brought to life’ by artificial intelligence – are one such innovation. Critics suggest that making sex dolls more lifelike but not necessarily more realistic could erode cultural norms around sexuality, particularly regarding consent. Using qualitative content analysis, this study examined user discourse on the ‘Club RealDoll’ forum to investigate how Harmony, the artificially intelligent Android-based app behind Abyss Creations’ sex robot technology, engendered particular normative values and uncovered users’ preconceived attitudes about consent. These data ultimately revealed how the app’s gamified format promotes a set of flawed internal ethics, incompatible with broader societal ideals for positive and respectful sexual experiences. The results also suggested, however, that with purposeful design intervention, this technology could be ‘reprogrammed’ to provide clarity on the role of consent. Although the experience of using a physically integrated sex robot may intrinsically vary from that of the standalone digital app, these findings make a critical contribution to the conversation around emerging technologies and their effect on sexual relationship norms.
The integration of social robots in organizations is on the rise. In the future, an increase in the application of physically embodied robots who socially interact and collaborate with humans is expected. In this chapter, we outline the organizational contexts in which current research examines social robots and point out cultural challenges regarding their implementation in the workplace. We suggest that the successful integration of social robots in organizations requires a cultural fit between values embedded in social robots and values lived in the organizational context in which the robot is deployed. In addition, we propose an agenda for future research that addresses the associated cultural challenges of introducing social robots into organizational contexts.
Background
The ease of access to pornography has made its use common among adolescents. Although sexual and gender minority (SGM) (eg, gay, transgender) adolescents may be more prone to use pornography owing to sexual orientation–related information seeking and/or scarcity of potential romantic or sexual partners, relatively little attention has been paid to their pornography use and to the quantitative examination of the similarities and differences between heterosexual, cisgender (HC) and SGM adolescents’ pornography use characteristics.
Aim
The aim of the present study was to compare SGM and HC adolescents’ pornography use considering potential sex differences.
Methods
We used a sample of 2,846 adolescents (52.5% girls; Mage = 14.5 years, SD = 0.6), which was collected as part of an ongoing longitudinal study on adolescents’ sexual health. Data were analyzed with 5 groups: HC boys; HC girls; SGM boys; SGM girls; and SGM non-binary individuals.
Outcomes
Adolescents completed a self-report questionnaire about sexual and gender minority status and pornography use (ie, lifetime use, age at first exposure, and frequency of use in the past 3 months.)
Results
Results indicated significant differences between all groups: 88.2% of HC boys, 78.2% of SGM boys, 54.2% of SGM girls, 39.4% of HC girls, and 29.4% of SGM non-binary individuals reported having ever viewed pornography by the age of 14 years. SGM girls indicated a significantly younger age at first pornography use than HC girls, but this difference was not significant among boys. SGM boys reported the highest (median: many times per week), whereas HC girls reported the lowest (median: less than once a month) frequency of pornography use.
Clinical Translation
Results suggest that SGM and HC boys' pornography use characteristics are rather similar, whereas SGM and HC girls’ pornography use patterns may be considered different presumably because of the varying underlying motivations (eg, using pornography to confirm sexual orientation).
Strengths & Limitations
Self-report measures and cross-sectional designs have potential biases that should be considered. However, the present study involved a large sample of adolescents including SGM adolescents, a population group that is understudied.
Conclusion
Approximately two-thirds of teenagers had gained their first experience with pornography in the present sample, and 52.2% reported using it once a week or more often in the past 3 months, indicating that pornography use may play an important role in both HC and SGM adolescents’ sexual development. Gender-based differences concerning pornography use seem to be robust regardless of SGM status.
Bőthe B, Vaillancourt-Morel, MP, Girouard A, et al. A Large-Scale Comparison of Canadian Sexual/Gender Minority and Heterosexual, Cisgender Adolescents’ Pornography Use Characteristics. J Sex Med 2020;XX:XXX–XXX.
Three studies examined the association between narcissistic identification with one’s advantaged in‐group and engagement in solidarity‐based collective action. Drawing on theory and past research, a negative effect of collective narcissism on solidarity‐based collective action was expected. A two‐wave longitudinal study (N = 162) found that Polish participants’ narcissistic, but not secure, national identification decreased their willingness to engage in collective action in solidarity with refugees over time. A field study (N = 258) performed during a mass protest against a proposed abortion ban showed that men’s gender‐based collective narcissism was a negative predictor of solidarity‐based engagement (operationalized as protest behaviour and collective action intentions) and this effect was mediated by lowered empathy for women. Finally, a web‐based survey (N = 1992) revealed that heterosexual/cisgender individuals’ collective narcissism was negatively associated with collective action intentions in support of LGBT rights and that this effect was sequentially mediated by increased intergroup anxiety and decreased empathy for LGBT people. Theoretical implications of present findings, research limitations and future directions are discussed.
Care robots are robotic applications targeted for use in care and nursing environments, or to support independent living for the elderly and those with disabilities. Robots may provide relief to the challenge in many countries of tending to an increased elderly population’s needs for care services. This chapter provides an introductory review of care robots and discusses their acceptability within the field of elderly care. Our focus is on the end-users of robots, namely the elderly and care professionals, who are often neglected or misconceived within the field of technology development. We approach their perspective through three empirical studies: a citizen panel for older adults on their expectations and concerns for care robots, a case study of a social robot adopted within three elderly-care facilities, and a case study of a mobile telepresence robot piloted in two care facilities. In these studies, both elderly people and professionals showed positive perceptions towards care robots, at least from certain perspectives. They also presented requirements and framework conditions that should be taken into account when considering the use of robots in care. In particular, the study participants highlighted the priority of humans in care, although they accepted robots for carrying out secondary care tasks.
Online sexually explicit material (SEM) is a popular media source, but little is known about its association with body image. This study explored whether perceived realism of SEM mediated the direct association of SEM use on body image while accounting for gender differences. Young adults (N = 393; ages 19 to 30; 53.4% women) recruited through a crowdsourcing Web site completed an anonymous online survey that assessed SEM use, perceptions of the realism of SEM, and body image. Body satisfaction, genital self-image, comfort being nude, penis-/breast-size satisfaction, and self-esteem were used to create the variable of body image. SEM use had a positive indirect association with body image through perceived realism for both men and women. Follow-up analyses revealed this association was due to body satisfaction and self-esteem in men and comfort being nude and self-esteem in women. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for clinical applications and understanding young adults’ body image.
We explored a need for service robots in hospitals and housing services. The methods consisted of a literature review and a cross-sectional survey among health care professionals (n = 224). The survey data was analyzed with a logistic regression model and a factor analysis. The literature review showed that there are only few papers, which discuss service robotics in nursing. The results presented that service robots are needed as co-workers for decreasing mental workload of workers and for activating the patients. Physical workload and age of respondents were non-significant factors in assessing a need for service robots.
Pornography availability has increased in recent years and while there is plenty of speculation about its effects, empirical investigation about how porn influences our lives has yielded mixed results. Additionally, few studies have addressed the effects of specific pornography characteristics. Past research has shown that male-centric pornography can be related to negative outcomes, while female-centric pornography is related to more positive outcomes, particularly in women. The present survey study examined the relationship between pornography characteristics (male- and female-centric) and the self-reported attitudes and sexual experiences of men and women. Participants in the full sample were 195 men and 310 women who completed an online questionnaire. Although effect sizes were small, viewing pornography with more female-centric features was linked to more reported positive effects of pornography on sex life and perceptions of the other gender for women. While men were more likely than women to report negative effects relating to pornography use on these same measures, there were very few reported negative effects of pornography overall. These findings demonstrate a small association between the use of female-centric pornography and more positive outcomes, particularly for women.
This study examined the relationship between Instagram use (overall, as well as specifically viewing fitspiration images) and body image concerns and self-objectification among women between the ages of 18 and 25 from the United States (n = 203) and from Australia (n = 73). Furthermore, this study tested whether internalization of the societal beauty ideal, appearance comparison tendency in general, or appearance comparisons to specific target groups on Instagram mediated any relationships between Instagram use and the appearance-related variables. Greater overall Instagram use was associated with greater self-objectification, and that relationship was mediated both by internalization and by appearance comparisons to celebrities. More frequently viewing fitspiration images on Instagram was associated with greater body image concerns, and that relationship was mediated by internalization, appearance comparison tendency in general, and appearance comparisons to women in fitspiration images. Together, these results suggest that Instagram usage may negatively influence women’s appearance-related concerns and beliefs.
Emergence of autonomous machines is a hotly debated topic in mass-media. However, previous research has not empirically investigated whether the perceived autonomy of robots affects their social acceptance. In this study we examined the impact of perceived robot autonomy on realistic threats (threats to human jobs, resources and safety) and identity threats (threats to human identity and distinctiveness), attitude toward robots, and support for robotics research. US based participants watched a video of robots performing various tasks – these robots were presented as either autonomous and capable of disregarding human commands or non-autonomous and only capable of following human commands. Participants who watched videos of supposedly autonomous robots perceived robots in general to be significantly more threatening to humans (both realistic and identity threats) than those who watched a video of non-autonomous robots. Furthermore, exposure to autonomous robots evoked stronger negative attitude towards robots in general and more opposition to robotics research than exposure to non-autonomous robots. Both realistic and identity threats mediated the increase in negative attitudes toward robots and opposition to robotics research, although realistic threats were often the stronger mediator of the two. Our findings have practical implications for research on AI and open new questions on the relationship between robot autonomy and their social impact.
Slavery is the coercive and controlled use of another human. Contrary to the belief that the practice ended in the 1800s, slavery still persists today. There are many different terms used to describe slavery including, debt bondage (a person's pledge of labor for a debt or obligation), sale and exploitation of children, and human trafficking (forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation). Sexual exploitation is the most commonly identified form of human trafficking (79%) followed by forced labor (18%) [52]. To be held in slavery is to be held in miserable conditions and have a form of power over you that denies you a life of freedom. For most people in Europe and North America slavery is not a visible problem, and one could think slavery is somehow less important, and less violent today than in the past. This is not the case. The United Nations estimates that almost 21 million people are currently victims of slaver y [25]. A staggering $150billion in profits is generated from forced labor and 168 million girls and boys are in child labor [25]. Central to our understanding of slavery and its related forms is that a person is recast, often without bodily integrity, as property that can be bought, sold, and accessed by others with more power, status, and money.
More than 40 years ago, Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori (1970/2005) proposed the "uncanny valley" hypothesis, which predicted a nonlinear relation between robots' perceived human likeness and their likability. Although some studies have corroborated this hypothesis and proposed explanations for its existence, the evidence on both fronts has been mixed and open to debate. We first review the literature to ascertain whether the uncanny valley exists. We then try to explain the uncanny phenomenon by reviewing hypotheses derived from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives within psychology and allied fields, including evolutionary, social, cognitive, and psychodynamic approaches. Next, we provide an evaluation and critique of these studies by focusing on their methodological limitations, leading us to question the accepted definition of the uncanny valley. We examine the definitions of human likeness and likability, and propose a statistical test to preliminarily quantify their nonlinear relation. We argue that the uncanny valley hypothesis is ultimately an engineering problem that bears on the possibility of building androids that may some day become indistinguishable from humans. In closing, we propose a dehumanization hypothesis to explain the uncanny phenomenon.
Although much attention concerning the potential impact of sexualized media has focused on girls and women, less is known about how this content effects boys' perceptions of women and courtship. Accordingly, the current three-wave panel study investigated whether exposure to sexualizing magazines predicts adolescent boys' (N = 592) sexually objectifying notions of women and their beliefs about feminine courtship strategies. The results indicated that when boys consumed sexualizing magazines more often, they expressed more gender-stereotypical beliefs about feminine courtship strategies over time. This association was mediated by boys' objectification of women. The possibility of a reciprocal relation whereby beliefs about courtship strategies predict future consumption of sexualizing magazines was also explored but received no support. Discussion focuses on effects of sexualizing media on boys, and supports future research to build on multidisciplinary knowledge.
Copyright © 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Although Internet pornography is widely consumed and researchers have started to investigate its effects, we still know little about its content. This has resulted in contrasting claims about whether Internet pornography depicts gender (in)equality and whether this depiction differs between amateur and professional pornography. We conducted a content analysis of three main dimensions of gender (in)equality (i.e., objectification, power, and violence) in 400 popular pornographic Internet videos from the most visited pornographic Web sites. Objectification was depicted more often for women through instrumentality, but men were more frequently objectified through dehumanization. Regarding power, men and women did not differ in social or professional status, but men were more often shown as dominant and women as submissive during sexual activities. Except for spanking and gagging, violence occurred rather infrequently. Nonconsensual sex was also relatively rare. Overall, amateur pornography contained more gender inequality at the expense of women than professional pornography did.
National panel data gathered in 2008 (T1) and 2010 (T2) from 420 Black and White US adults aged 18-89 years (M = 45.37, SD = 15.85) were employed to assess prospective associations between pornography consumption and premarital sex attitudes. Premarital sex attitudes were indexed via a composite measure of perceptions of the appropriateness of adults and teenagers having premarital sex. Wright's (2011) sexual script acquisition, activation, application model (3AM) of media sexual socialization was used as the guiding theoretical framework. The 3AM maintains that sexual media may be used by consumers to inform their sexual scripts but that attitude change from exposure to sexual media is less likely when media scripts are incongruent with consumers' preexisting scripts. Consistent with these postulates, the association between pornography consumption at T1 and more positive attitudes toward premarital sex at T2 was strongest for younger adults, who are less oppositional to premarital sex than older adults. Contrary to the position that associations between pornography consumption and premarital sex attitudes are due to individuals who already have positive attitudes toward premarital sex selecting content congruent with their attitudes, premarital sex attitudes at T1 did not predict pornography consumption at T2.
The aim of this study was to examine how young people are intentionally or unintentionally exposed to sexual material on the internet. A sample from the EU Kids Online II project, including youth (N = 11,712, 11–16 years, 50 % girls) from 25 countries, was used to examine predictors of unintentional exposure to online sexual material (EOSM) via pop-up images and intentional EOSM on adult/X-rated websites. Using a multilevel analysis, we considered several individual-level predictors (psychosocial characteristics, patters of internet use, and parental mediation), one country-level predictor (mean cultural liberalism of the country), and cross-level interactions. Except for gender, the study did not identify any specific patterns of individual-level predictors for unintentional and intentional EOSM: age, sensation seeking, sexual intercourse, amount of time spent online, level of digital skills, and degree of restrictive mediation predicted both types of EOSM. Intentional EOSM was more often reported by boys, while unintentional EOSM occurred to a similar degree among boys and girls. Finally, living in a country with a stronger culture of liberalism predicted a greater likelihood of intentional but not unintentional EOSM and also was associated with smaller gender differences in intentional EOSM.
In this presentation, we discussed how researchers' commitment to avoid p-hacking will affect their research lives. One conclusion is that most experimental research cannot be successful without at least 50 observations per condition.
In humans, gender is both a concept and performance embodied by females and males, a corporeal technology that is produced dialectically. The process of gendering robots makes especially clear that gender belongs both to the order of the material body and to the social and discursive or semiotic systems within which bodies are embedded. This article explores and interrogates the gendering of humanoid robots manufactured today in Japan for employment in the home and workplace. Gender attribution is a process of reality construction. Roboticists assign gender based on their common-sense assumptions about female and male sex and gender roles. Whereas the relationship between human bodies and genders is a contingent one, I argue that gendered robots render that relationship a necessary one by conflating bodies and genders. Humanoid robots are the vanguard of posthuman sexism, and are being developed within a reactionary rhetorical climate.