Do We Blame it on the Machine? Task Outcome and Agency Attribution in Human-Technology Collaboration

Haiyan Jia, Mu Wu, S. Shyam Sundar

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

With the growing functionality and capability of technology in human-technology interaction, humans are no longer the only autonomous entity. Automated machines increasingly play the role of agentic teammates, and through this process, human agency and machine agency are constructed and negotiated. Previous research on “Computers are Social Actors (CASA)” and self-serving bias suggest that humans might attribute more technology agency and less human agency when the interaction outcome is undesirable, and vice versa. We conducted an experiment to test this proposition by manipulating task outcome of a game co-played by a user and a smartphone app, and found partially contradictory results. Further, user characteristics, sociability in particular, moderated the effect of task outcome on agency attribution, and affected user experience and behavioral intention. Such findings suggest a complex mechanism of agency attribution in human-technology collaboration, which has important implications for emerging socio-ethical and socio-technical concerns surrounding intelligent technology.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 55th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2022
EditorsTung X. Bui
PublisherIEEE Computer Society
Pages388-397
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9780998133157
StatePublished - 2022
Event55th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2022 - Virtual, Online, United States
Duration: Jan 3 2022Jan 7 2022

Publication series

NameProceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Volume2022-January
ISSN (Print)1530-1605

Conference

Conference55th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2022
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityVirtual, Online
Period1/3/221/7/22

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Engineering

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