Social Aspects of ESG in Higher Education: University Students' Attitudes Towards Robots

Robots play an increasing role in education as these can support teaching, learning and increase students' interest in science, technology and engineering. However, market access and sustainable application of robots in education requires knowledge on their acceptance by target users. The aim of our study was to investigate university students' attitudes towards robots in general. A cross-sectional survey was performed involving a sample of 1,000 citizens, representative for the general adult population of Hungary. Among them, there were 30 university students, their data were analyzed. The average Negative Attitudes towards Robots Scale (NARS) score was 16.0 (SD=6.1; scale range: 6–30) on the Social Interactions, 16.3 (SD=4.2; scale range: 5–25) on the Social Influence and 9.5 (SD=3.7; scale range: 3–15) on the Emotional Interactions subscales. The average score of the Negative Attitudes subscale of the Multi-dimensional Robot Attitude Scale (MdRAS) tool was -0.4 (SD=0.3; scale range: -3-3). The average Robot Anxiety Scale (RAS) score was 11.8 (SD=3.0; scale range 3–18) on the Communication Capability, 14.1 (SD=4.3; scale range: 4–24) on the Behavioral Characteristics and 15.2 (SD=4.4; scale range: 4–24) on the Discourse with Robots subscales. Our results highlight the existence of negative attitudes and anxiety toward robots among university students, although at different levels for different robot characteristics and use. Targeted research involving larger samples and educational programs are encouraged to support the designing, implementation and management of educational robots in universities.