Can expectations about male and female roles shape how people rate a self-driving car’s voice assistant?

Details

The researchers explored how a self-driving car’s voice assistant might influence acceptance of the vehicle. They compared assistants that provided information with assistants that took a social role, with male and female versions of each.

The study treated informative male assistants and social female assistants as matching conventional expectations about which roles suit males and females. These combinations were perceived as easier to use and more useful than the opposite pairings. This result reflects responses to the assistant’s design, not evidence that either gender is inherently better suited to a particular role.

Although the research aimed to examine intentions to adopt self-driving cars, the abstract does not report a direct finding about adoption intentions or actual use. It also does not give the size of the rating differences or describe participants’ backgrounds.