Gender Preferences for Robots and Gender Equality Orientation in Communication Situations Depending on Occupation

Abstract

The individual physical appearances of robots are considered significant, similar to the way that those of humans are. We investigated whether users prefer robots with male or female physical appearances for use in daily communication situations depending on occupation and whether gender equality orientation are related to this preference. One thousand adult men and women aged 20–60 participated in the questionnaire survey. The results of our study showed that in most situations depending on occupation, “neither” was selected mostly. Furthermore, we examined the relationship between gender preference and gender equality orientation, and results showed that the tendency is higher for people who were not specific about their gender preferences. It is concluded that there is no need to introduce a robot that specifies its gender. Robots with a gender-neutral appearance might be more appropriate for applications requiring complex human–robot interaction and help avoid reproducing a gender bias.