Can IKEA effect promote empathy for agents?

TL;DR

This study examines whether the IKEA effect—value gained from self-assembly—can foster empathy toward anthropomorphic agents and whether the social relationship between co-present participants moderates this effect. Using a three-factor mixed design with LEGO Mindstorms EV3 dog-shaped agents, participants either cooperatively built one agent or independently built their own, while empathy toward the agent and toward the other participant was measured before and after assembly. Results show that the IKEA effect increases empathy toward the agent, especially in cognitive and overall empathy, regardless of participant relationship, though empathy toward humans remains higher overall. The findings suggest that agent-assembly tasks can promote acceptance and empathy for agents, informing designs for social robots and educational tools, while recognizing that agent empathy does not fully match human empathy. The work highlights strategies for integrating hands-on construction to enhance human–agent coexistence in future society.

Abstract

Cooperative relationships between humans and agents are becoming more important for the social coexistence of anthropomorphic agents, including virtual agents and robots. One way to improve the relationship between humans and agents is for humans to empathize with the agents. Empathy can help humans become more accepting of agents. In this study, we focus on the IKEA effect in creating agents and investigate human empathy toward agents through relationships with others in the same space. For this reason, this study used a robot assembly task in which two participants cooperatively build the same robot or individually their own robot. We conducted experiments to examine the relationship between participants, the IKEA effect in creating an agent, and the influence of the empathy object on human empathy. The results showed that the IKEA effect promoted empathy toward the agent regardless of the relationship between participants. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in empathy from one participant to another before and after the task. These results indicate that regardless of the relationship between participants in the same space, the creation of an agent can promote empathy toward the agent.

Figures (9)

• Figure 1: LEGO agent.
• Figure 2: Parts before assembly.
• Figure 3: Process flow of experiment.
• Figure 4: Image of experimental environment.
• Figure 5: Specific procedure for assembling experiment.