Emotions and anthropomorphism towards robots: a scoping review

Human interaction with non-human entities, such as robots, has long been characterised by anthropomorphism – namely, the tendency to attribute human-like mental states to inanimate objects. While humans appear evolutionarily hardwired to use anthropomorphism as the default strategy for navigating interactions with their peers, significant gaps remain in the Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) field in defining and operationalising “emotions” and their relationship to psychological anthropomorphism towards robots. This scoping review aims to systematically map the existing HRI literature and see how emotions are investigated in relation to robots. By reviewing relevant empirical studies, it addresses four core research questions focusing on: (i) the conceptualisation of emotions and anthropomorphism towards robots; (ii) prevailing theoretical models and definitions; (iii) methodologies used to investigate emotions in HRI; and (iv) key findings in the literature regarding the emotions-anthropomorphism link. This review contributes to broaden current discussions about how emotions are conceptualised and analysed in HRI research, by which it would be possible to contribute to extend knowledge about how people emotionally interact with robots by considering their anthropomorphism.