Integrate autonomy and agency paradigms, standardise instruments, probe non-demographic moderators, and extend evaluations to longitudinal real-world settings¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The review derives four research and design recommendations for advancing autonomy-supportive robot design: integrating autonomy and agency paradigms in study designs, standardising definitions and instruments, probing moderating user traits beyond demographics, and extending evaluations beyond short laboratory tasks into longitudinal, real-world settings. The authors state these steps "could help advance autonomy-supportive robot design strategies that uphold ethical and psychological principles and foster user well-being in HRI."

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Study designs that measure both human autonomy and sense of agency, using standardised instruments, in settings extending beyond short laboratory tasks

Constraints¶

• Current evidence base is limited to 22 predominantly short, lab-based studies concentrated on interface and task spheres

Target Learners¶

• HRI researchers, practitioners, and policymakers designing or regulating robots for education, health and care, industry, hospitality, and delivery

Target Learning Goals¶

• Fostering human autonomy and sense of agency, and user well-being, in human-robot interaction

Claims¶

• Robot exposure affects human autonomy and sense of agency, but no general conclusion about the direction of the effect can be drawn [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Prioritize inclusive-by-design architectures, interoperable agent frameworks, human-AI collaboration models, and real-world implementation studies
• Prioritise longitudinal validation, pedagogical grounding, governed adoption of agent infrastructures, and ethics with human oversight in educational agentic AI research
• Advance AI-motivation research through theory-driven, pedagogically explicit, longitudinal designs covering broader motivational constructs
• Study effort regulation in real-world, personally relevant contexts over longer timeframes, including via ecological momentary assessment

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• 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