Results: If you can have your service robot gendered, would you like it to be female or male?
After having seen a description of a versatile domestic service robots, which was able to do both stereotypical male and female tasks, the participants (n = 300) were asked these questions:
If you decide to test this robot in your home, to what extent would you prefer that its voice is female versus male?
Female voice 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Male voice
If you decide to test this robot in your home, to what extent would you prefer that its upper body has a female shape versus a male shape?
Female shape 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Male shape
If you decide to test this robot in your home, to what extent would you prefer that it has a face with female features versus a face with male features?
Female face 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Male face
If you decide to test this robot in your home, to what extent would you prefer that it has a female name versus a male name?
Female name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Male name
The means of these four variables, which can take on values in the
1-7 range (1: female, 7 : male), are presented below.
* significantly lower than the scale midpoint (i.e., 4),
which indicates a preference for female gendering
Robot attribute
Voice
Body shape
Face
Name
Mean preference
3.33*
4.02
3.50*
3.60*