Are Future Psychologists Willing to Accept and Use a Humanoid Robot in Their Practice? Italian and English Students’ Perspective

TLDR

Social robotics research shows successful application in education and rehabilitation within clinical psychology, despite general scepticism from care professionals. This study examines how cultural background and presentation modality influence English and Italian psychology students’ perceived usefulness and intention to use a humanoid robot in future clinical practice. A survey of 158 Italian and British‑English students followed an interactive demonstration of the robot to assess acceptance and intended use. Italian students viewed the robot as useful and intended to use it, whereas English students were skeptical; both groups reported lacking the skills to employ the robot, highlighting the need for additional training to facilitate adoption.

Abstract

Despite general scepticism from care professionals, social robotics research is providing evidence of successful application in education and rehabilitation in clinical psychology practice. In this article, we investigate the cultural influences of English and Italian psychology students in the perception of usefulness and intention to use a robot as an instrument for future clinical practice and, secondly, the modality of presentation of the robot by comparing oral versus video presentation. To this end, we surveyed 158 Italian and British-English psychology students after an interactive demonstration using a humanoid robot to evaluate the social robot's acceptance and use. The Italians were positive, while the English were negative towards the perceived usefulness and intention to use the robot in psychological practice in the near future. However, most English and Italian respondents felt they did not have the necessary abilities to make good use of the robot. We concluded that it is necessary to provide psychology students with further knowledge and practical skills regarding social robotics, which could facilitate the adoption and use of this technology in clinical settings.