Navigating the human-robot workplace: How robotic mental capability shapes employee collaborative intention

With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, robots equipped with human-like mental capabilities are being integrated into the workplace. However, the impact of robots’ mental capabilities on employee perception and work behaviour remains unclear. Drawing on social comparison theory, this study investigates how robots’ mental capabilities affect employee collaborative intention. The moderating roles of employee implicit personality and the relative status of robots were also examined. The results of three scenario-based experiments and one field experiment indicate that employees are less willing to collaborate with robots exhibiting high (vs. low) mental capabilities, primarily due to an increased sense of status threat. However, the negative effect was alleviated where employees had a malleable (vs. fixed) mindset or perceived the robot as a subordinate (vs. peer). These findings provide theoretical insights and practical guidance for integrating service robots into the workplace and to foster effective employee-robot collaboration.