Robots make me feel more like a human! Investigating how employee-robot engagement reduces workplace depersonalization

Liu, Xin; Zhang, Lu; Lin, Zhibin; Guan, Xinhua

Abstract

Recent research has begun to investigate employee-robot interactions, but the impact of employee-robot engagement in the workplace still requires further exploration. This research adopted a perspective of psychological empowerment to uncover the mechanisms and boundary conditions between employee-robot engagement and workplace depersonalization. A mixed-method research design with three studies was employed. Study 1 involved a qualitative research approach and developed a theoretical model of employee-robot engagement under robot-related psychological empowerment, which includes meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. Study 2 consisted of an online experiment, and the results revealed that employee-robot engagement can significantly reduce the presence of depersonalization. Study 3 employed a questionnaire survey and demonstrated that employee-robot engagement, through robot-related psychological empowerment, reduced depersonalization, with developmental HR practices playing a moderating role. Our research expands human-robot interaction theories, and offers practical guidance for the adoption of service robots in tourism and hospitality organizations.

Citation

Liu, X., Zhang, L., Lin, Z., & Guan, X. (2025). Robots make me feel more like a human! Investigating how employee-robot engagement reduces workplace depersonalization. Tourism Management, 109, Article 105149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2025.105149

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 20, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Jan 27, 2025
• Publication Date: 2025-08
• Deposit Date: Feb 12, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 13, 2025
• Journal: Tourism Management
• Print ISSN: 0261-5177
• Electronic ISSN: 1879-3193
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 109
• Article Number: 105149
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2025.105149
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3478863