Purpose

Social robots increasingly adopt service roles in the marketplace. While service research is beginning to unravel the implications for theory and practice, other scientific disciplines have amassed a wealth of empirical data of robots assuming such service roles. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize these findings from a role theory perspective with the aim of advancing role theory for human–robot service interaction (HRSI).

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic review of more than 10,000 articles revealed 149 empirical HRSI-related papers across scientific disciplines. The respective articles are analyzed employing qualitative content analysis through the lens of role theory.

Findings

This review develops an organizing structure of the HRSI literature across disciplines, delineates implications for role theory development in the age of social robots, and advances robotic role theory by providing an overarching framework and corresponding propositions. Finally, this review introduces avenues for future research.

Originality/value

This study pioneers a comprehensive review of empirical HRSI literature across disciplines adopting the lens of role theory. The study structures the body of HRSI literature, adapts traditional and derives novel propositions for role theory (i.e. robotic role theory), and delineates promising future research opportunities.

中文翻译：

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机器人角色理论：对人机服务交互的综合回顾，以推进社交机器人时代的角色理论

目的

社交机器人越来越多地在市场中扮演服务角色。虽然服务研究开始揭示对理论和实践的影响，但其他科学学科已经积累了大量关于机器人承担此类服务角色的经验数据。本文的目的是从角色理论的角度综合这些发现，旨在推进人机服务交互（HRSI）的角色理论。

设计/方法/方法

对 10,000 多篇文章的系统评价揭示了 149 篇跨科学学科的与 HRSI 相关的实证论文。通过角色理论的镜头，采用定性内容分析对各自的文章进行了分析。

发现

这篇综述开发了跨学科的 HRSI 文献的组织结构，描述了社交机器人时代角色理论发展的意义，并通过提供一个总体框架和相应的命题来推进机器人角色理论。最后，这篇综述介绍了未来研究的途径。

原创性/价值

本研究率先采用角色理论的视角对跨学科的实证 HRSI 文献进行了全面回顾。该研究构建了 HRSI 文献的主体，改编了传统并为角色理论（即机器人角色理论）推导出了新的命题，并描绘了有前途的未来研究机会。