Enhancing or Inhibiting? A Literature Analysis of Social Robots and Implications on Well-being Outcomes among Older Adults

Social robots have been swiftly adopted among the aging population to boost social interactions and reshape lifestyle patterns. Based on a literature review of 76 research articles, we found that the direct impact of social robots on older adults’ well-being, including psychological, physical, social, and eudaimonic dimensions, can be positive, negative, or non-significant. Contextual factors, including robotic characteristics, geriatric factors, and situational contexts, primarily drive these heterogeneous effects. Based on our findings, we present a comprehensive framework guided by successful aging theory to discuss the future research agenda. Our work helps promote evidence-based social robot design in practice, and we call for closer interdisciplinary collaborations to explore both design factors and behavioral consequences among older adults in advancing the elderly’s well-being and successful aging.