Robot communication cues affect sense of agency: predicted-path display and averted gaze reduce it, direct gaze raises it, and facial expression shows no effect¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (3 entries) · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Displaying a delivery robot's predicted movement path increased sense of agency, whereas displaying the predicted path of the approaching human decreased it. → Glawe 2025 q2 i? Sense of agency was significantly lower for an averted robot gaze than for direct gaze (eye contact). → Glawe 2025 (2) q2 i? Positive or negative robot facial expression showed no effect on sense of agency in two experiments. → Glawe 2025 (3)

Evidence¶

Glawe 2025¶

Glawe, F., Schmeckel, T., Brauner, P., & Ziefle, M. (2025). Human Autonomy and Sense of Agency in Human-Robot Interaction: A Systematic Literature Review. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.22271 doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.22271

q2 · i? · review · r2

The review reports an experiment by Yu et al. on movement-path communication by delivery robots in urban spaces; participants felt pressured to comply with the robot's prediction of their own path, lowering their sense of agency.

"displaying a robot's predicted movement path increased sense of agency, whereas displaying the predicted path of the approaching human decreased it [80]"

Glawe 2025 (2)¶

Glawe, F., Schmeckel, T., Brauner, P., & Ziefle, M. (2025). Human Autonomy and Sense of Agency in Human-Robot Interaction: A Systematic Literature Review. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.22271. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.22271

q2 · i? · review · r2

The review reports Lombardi et al.'s experiment in which the robot's gaze direction mattered for sense of agency; the article attributes the effect to eye contact hypothesised to trigger self-awareness via self-referential processing.

"sense of agency was significantly lower for an averted gaze than for direct gaze (eye contact) [72]"

Glawe 2025 (3)¶

Glawe, F., Schmeckel, T., Brauner, P., & Ziefle, M. (2025). Human Autonomy and Sense of Agency in Human-Robot Interaction: A Systematic Literature Review. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.22271. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.22271

q2 · i? · review · r2

The review reports two experiments examining robot facial expression valence; because valence was randomised, participants could not predict outcomes, which the authors align with prior findings on predictable versus randomised emotional outcomes.

"positive or negative facial expression of a robot was examined, but no effect on sense of agency was found [65, 72]"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Robot exposure affects human autonomy and sense of agency, but no general conclusion about the direction of the effect can be drawn — a broader claim this one bears on
• No clear effect of robot anthropomorphism on human autonomy or sense of agency emerges across reviewed studies — related
• Different humanlike design dimensions cue distinct classes of anthropomorphism inferences — related