Changes in attitudes over time: evaluating the human-robot fast friendship (HRF) procedure

The present study reports an in-depth investigation into whether and how a human-robot friendship (HRF) procedure [1], [2] could improve attitudes toward robots and whether such effects would persist over time. Sixty-one participants interacted with a humanoid robot through a self-disclosure-based friendship protocol, and we measured warmth perceptions, anthropomorphization, behavioral intentions, and perceived threat from robots at three time points (T1: pre-contact; T2: immediate post-contact; T3: three-week follow-up). Results indicated significant short-term improvements in warmth perception and anthropomorphization of robots from T1 to T2, but these gains did not persist at T3. No significant changes were observed in behavioral intentions or perceived threat at any time point. These findings suggest that a single structured HRF interaction can temporarily enhance social perceptions of robots, but repeated contact may be necessary for durable attitudinal change.