Abstract Context: Increased attention has been placed on the role of technological artefacts in the promotion of prosocial behaviours. However, up to this date, there is still no systematic exploration of the effectiveness of robots and virtual agents as promoters of this type of behaviour. Goals: The goal of this paper is to map research on the effectiveness of interventions involving interaction with social robots and virtual agents in eliciting prosocial behaviours in humans, as well as to derive implications for future research and development of these agents. Method: We identified 272 publications relevant to our goals, retrieved from 7 pertinent digital libraries in the areas of Human-Computer Interaction and Psychology. The final sample of primary sources included 19 publications (reporting on the results of 23 independent studies) involving at least 1524 subjects. The sources included were peer-reviewed research articles involving direct contact with robots or virtual agents, published in English between January 1st of 2000 and May 31st of 2020. Results: Of the 23 studies included, 22% did not find evidence to support an association between interaction with social robots or virtual agents and engagement or intention to engage in prosocial behaviours; and 26% reported mixed results. The remaining 52% of the studies reported positive effects in prosociality resulting from interaction with robots or virtual agents. The majority of these studies included interaction with robots (n=20) and was aimed at invoking prosocial behaviours towards the socially interactive agent itself. Most studies presented a satisfactory level of quality. Conclusions: There is a potential promise for social robots and virtual agents to serve as elicitors of prosocial behaviour among humans, both directed at the wider community and at the robot or agent itself. Nonetheless, further research is warranted to clarify the design and interaction-related variables that can increase the level of effectiveness of these technological agents, specially in what concerns virtual agents.

中文翻译：

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走向亲社会设计：使用机器人和虚拟代理触发亲社会行为的范围审查

摘要背景：人们越来越关注技术人工制品在促进亲社会行为方面的作用。然而，到目前为止，仍然没有系统地探索机器人和虚拟代理作为此类行为的推动者的有效性。目标：本文的目标是绘制涉及与社交机器人和虚拟代理交互的干预在引发人类亲社会行为方面的有效性的研究，以及对这些代理的未来研究和开发的影响。方法：我们从人机交互和心理学领域的 7 个相关数字图书馆中检索了 272 篇与我们的目标相关的出版物。主要来源的最终样本包括 19 篇出版物（报告 23 项独立研究的结果），涉及至少 1524 名受试者。包括的来源是同行评审的研究文章，涉及与机器人或虚拟代理的直接接触，发表时间为 2000 年 1 月 1 日至 2020 年 5 月 31 日。 结果：在纳入的 23 项研究中，22% 没有找到支持关联的证据与社交机器人或虚拟代理的互动与参与或参与亲社会行为的意图之间；26% 的报告结果喜忧参半。其余 52% 的研究报告了与机器人或虚拟代理互动对亲社会性产生的积极影响。这些研究中的大多数包括与机器人的交互（n = 20），旨在激发对社会交互代理本身的亲社会行为。大多数研究的质量水平令人满意。结论：社交机器人和虚拟代理有可能成为人类亲社会行为的诱因，既针对更广泛的社区，也针对机器人或代理本身。尽管如此，还需要进一步研究来阐明可以提高这些技术代理的有效性水平的设计和与交互相关的变量，特别是在与虚拟代理有关的方面。既针对更广泛的社区，也针对机器人或代理本身。尽管如此，还需要进一步研究来阐明可以提高这些技术代理的有效性水平的设计和与交互相关的变量，特别是在与虚拟代理有关的方面。既针对更广泛的社区，也针对机器人或代理本身。尽管如此，还需要进一步研究来阐明可以提高这些技术代理的有效性水平的设计和与交互相关的变量，特别是在与虚拟代理有关的方面。