Creating robots with personality: The effect of personality on social intelligence

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of two personality traits, dominance and extroversion, on social intelligence. To test these traits, a NAO robot was used, which was teleoperated through a computer using a Wizard of Oz technique. A within-subject design was conducted with extroversion as within-subject variable and dominance as between-subject. Participants were asked to cooperate with the robot to play “Who wants to be a millionaire”. Before the experiment participants filled in a personality questionnaire to measure their dominance and extroversion. After each condition, participants filled in a modified version of the Godspeed questionnaire concerning personality traits of the robot plus 4 extra traits related to social intelligence. The results reveal a significant effect of dominance and extroversion on social intelligence. The extrovert robot was judged as more socially intelligent, likeable, animate, intelligent and emotionally expressive than the introvert robot. Similarly, the submissive robot was characterized as more socially intelligent, likeable and emotionally expressive than the dominant robot. We found no substantial results towards the similarity-attraction hypothesis and therefore we could not make a conclusion about the mediating effect of participant’s personality on likeability.