Factors Influencing the Adoption of the Intentional Stance: The Human Observer

In everyday life, realizing that other people’s minds do not necessarily operate like our own minds deepens our understanding of how humans function. Thus, to fully understand human attitudes towards robots, one needs to take into account individual differences. For example, individual predispositions, such as the need for cognition, or the need for closure, play a crucial role in humans’ propensity to anthropomorphize robots. This chapter describes the findings addressing the relationship between people’s likelihood of adopting the Intentional Stance and two determinants related to individual differences: (1) individuals’ state of mind before (or during) the interaction with a robot, and (2) prior knowledge or expertise regarding robots. Taken together, these findings show that both determinants have a significant impact on individuals’ attitude to adopt the Intentional Stance, and they should be both taken into consideration in the design and development of robots that are to interact with humans.