The Influence of Big Five Personality Traits on Perceived Threats from Cabin Service Robots: A Role-Based Perspective

Integrating service robots into high-stakes environments such as aviation cabins raises critical questions about human-robot interaction dynamics. This study investigates how personality traits, as defined by the Big Five Inventory (BFI), influence perceived threats from cabin service robots, with a novel focus on role-dependent differences between passengers and flight attendants. A dual-role survey was administered to 497 participants, who completed the BFI and then evaluated realistic threats (e.g., job displacement, safety risks) and identity threats (e.g., erosion of human roles) posed by cabin service robots, assuming both passenger and flight attendant roles. This study revealed significant role-modulated associations: When acting as flight attendants, higher neuroticism (N) correlated with elevated realistic threats and identity threats, while higher agreeableness (A) predicted reduced realistic threats. In the passenger role, only the negative association between agreeableness and realistic threats persisted. No gender-based differences in perceived threats emerged across roles. The study advances social robotics literature by (1) demonstrating the dual-role paradigm's utility in disentangling human-robot interaction dynamics and (2) identifying neuroticism as a pivotal trait in threat perception within high-responsibility service roles. Practical implications include tailored robot design and crew training strategies to mitigate role-specific anxieties, fostering smoother human-robot collaboration in aviation contexts.