Assistive Robots and Reasonable Work Assignment Reduce Perceived Stigma toward Persons with Disabilities
Stina Klein, Birgit Prodinger, Elisabeth André, Lars Mikelsons, Nils Mandischer
TL;DR
The study investigates whether assistive robots reduce stigma toward persons with disabilities in workplace contexts. Using a two-by-four vignette design, participants read scenarios varying impairment and task configuration, including robot-assisted conditions, and completeness of the PwD's task, while stigma is measured with the WMISS Cognitions and Behaviors scales. Results show cognitive stigma decreases when tasks are adapted or augmented by robots, with universal design (robot assistance for everyone) yielding the largest reduction; behavioral stigma follows a similar but weaker pattern. The findings support deploying collaborative robots and universal design principles to foster inclusion of PwD in work environments, though cultural scope and device variety warrant further research.
Abstract
Robots are becoming more prominent in assisting persons with disabilities (PwD). Whilst there is broad consensus that robots can assist in mitigating physical impairments, the extent to which they can facilitate social inclusion remains equivocal. In fact, the exposed status of assisted workers could likewise lead to reduced or increased perceived stigma by other workers. We present a vignette study on the perceived cognitive and behavioral stigma toward PwD in the workplace. We designed four experimental conditions depicting a coworker with an impairment in work scenarios: overburdened work, suitable work, and robot-assisted work only for the coworker, and an offer of robot-assisted work for everyone. Our results show that cognitive stigma is significantly reduced when the work task is adapted to the person's abilities or augmented by an assistive robot. In addition, offering robot-assisted work for everyone, in the sense of universal design, further reduces perceived cognitive stigma. Thus, we conclude that assistive robots reduce perceived cognitive stigma, thereby supporting the use of collaborative robots in work scenarios involving PwDs.