Robot exposure affects human autonomy and sense of agency, but no general conclusion about the direction of the effect can be drawn¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r2–r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Exposure to robots can alter perceptions of autonomy and sense of agency, but the direction of the effect depends on how the robot is deployed and used. → Glawe 2025 q2 i? Two independent experiments reported a reduced sense of agency when performing a task with a robot versus alone, and children tutoring a robot experienced lower human autonomy than tutoring a human. → Glawe 2025 (2)

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 · r3

The review's discussion of seven exposure studies, attributing the heterogeneity to absent explanatory variables and heterogeneous scenarios such as observing a robotic hand versus industrial robotisation. It concludes exposure "can alter perceptions" but direction is deployment-dependent.

"Consequently, no general conclusion can be drawn about the direction of robots' influence on human autonomy or sense of agency per se. Still, it shows that exposure to robots can alter perceptions of autonomy and sense of agency."

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's results section reports that two independent experiments found reduced sense of agency with a robot versus alone; it also reports children tutoring a robot experienced lower human autonomy than tutoring a human, while service-robot employees reported higher autonomy.

"Two independent experiments reported a reduced sense of agency when performing a task with a robot versus alone [68, 70]."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• No clear effect of robot anthropomorphism on human autonomy or sense of agency emerges across reviewed studies — related
• Robot adaptiveness effects on human autonomy are mixed: autonomy-supportive behaviours and as-needed assistance help, but mere choice or high interactivity may not — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• 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 — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Research on human autonomy and sense of agency in HRI follows two separate methodological strands with little integrative work bridging them — related
• A conceptual framework paper reports, citing a meta-analysis (Roesler et al., 2021), that anthropomorphism benefits human-robot interaction with effects varying across task contexts and design implementations — related
• Manipulating anthropomorphism shows no clear causal effect on trust in controlled post-generative-AI studies, though long-term use and cue type condition its effects — related