I Designed It, So I Trust It: The Influence of Customization on Psychological Ownership and Trust Toward Robots

Customization has been widely studied in the context of information systems and interfaces, but research on customization human-robot interaction (HRI) is scarce. However, user involvement may exert positive effects regarding attitudes trust toward robots, hence improving HRI quality. The aim present work to contribute theoretical understanding by testing whether (none, low, or high) a robot would elicit feelings psychological ownership (PO), which, turn, increase robot. Moreover, we hypothesized that more people customize robot, less they tend anthropomorphize it. In line with our predictions, (vs. none) significantly increased Further, level affected perceptions agency. Additionally, PO mediated effect implications these findings for are discussed.