Dictator game decisions with robot recipients

Dev, A.; Kleijn, R. de; Mukherjee, S.

doi:doi:10.1007/s12369-026-01385-z

While extensive research has examined human-human interactions in dictator games, studies exploring human-robot dictator games remain scarce. Here, we conducted multiple studies in India and The Netherlands to explore how participants allocate money to robot recipients. Using various versions of the dictator game paradigm with both hypothetical and real stakes, we measured offers toward 18 different robots while also assessing participants’ perceptions of these robots. Overall, our findings reveal that participants allocated money to robot recipients in dictator games, with offers varying significantly for hypothetical versus real monetary outcomes, mirroring patterns observed in the existing human-human dictator game literature. Factor analyses identified three key characteristics – perceived likeability, anthropomorphism, and social functionality of the robots – as consistent predictors of offers made in the dictator games. Results were broadly consistent across participants...Show moreWhile extensive research has examined human-human interactions in dictator games, studies exploring human-robot dictator games remain scarce. Here, we conducted multiple studies in India and The Netherlands to explore how participants allocate money to robot recipients. Using various versions of the dictator game paradigm with both hypothetical and real stakes, we measured offers toward 18 different robots while also assessing participants’ perceptions of these robots. Overall, our findings reveal that participants allocated money to robot recipients in dictator games, with offers varying significantly for hypothetical versus real monetary outcomes, mirroring patterns observed in the existing human-human dictator game literature. Factor analyses identified three key characteristics – perceived likeability, anthropomorphism, and social functionality of the robots – as consistent predictors of offers made in the dictator games. Results were broadly consistent across participants from the two countries. We discuss similarities and differences observed across dictator game variations, key predictors of offers made to robots, and cross-country differences in robot perception, along with study limitations. Our results offer empirical insights into the dynamics of human-robot economic interactions that could inform the design of socially interactive robots.
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