Robot risk awareness, zero-sum beliefs, and hotel frontline employee’s self-objectification: the moderating roles of psychological safety and gender

Abstract As service robots become increasingly integrated into the hospitality industry, concerns are growing about their psychological impact on frontline employees. Grounded in Social Comparison Theory and Cognitive Appraisal Theory, this study explores how robot risk awareness influences hotel frontline employees’ self-objectification, identifying zero-sum beliefs as a mediating mechanism and examining the moderating roles of psychological safety and gender. Drawing on survey data from 298 employees, the results show that robot risk awareness positively predicts self-objectification through the activation of zero-sum beliefs. The direct effect of robot risk awareness on self-objectification is amplified in low psychological safety environments. Gender further shapes the process: male employees are more likely to form zero-sum beliefs in response to robot threats, whereas female employees are more prone to internalizing these beliefs via self-objectification. These findings suggest that self-objectification serves as a psychological defense when employees perceive technological displacement. This research deepens theoretical understanding of employees’ cognitive-emotional coping responses to automation and offers practical guidance for cultivating psychologically safe and gender-sensitive workplaces.