ABSTRACT

Robots designed to elicit sexual arousal are coming. Sexual arousal can increase our willingness to engage in risky or unconventional sexual behaviors. However, researchers have yet to examine whether this effect extends to robots. Hence, this study provides the first empirical evidence that state sexual arousal can increase our willingness to engage erotically with robots. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that levels of sexual arousal would positively predict willingness to engage erotically with robots (Hypothesis 1); and that men would be more willing to engage erotically with robots than women (Hypothesis 2). A convenience sample of 321 adults (≥18y) completed a two-part online survey measuring their willingness to have sex with, love, engage in an intimate relationship with, and be friends with a robot and a human before and after viewing a sexually explicit video. The results partly support Hypotheses 1–2. They show that state sexual arousal increases willingness to have sex with a robot, and that men are more willing to have sex and engage in an intimate relationship with a robot than women, pre- and post-manipulation. These findings are important given the rise of sex robots and their potential influence on our intimate decisions and behaviors.

摘要

旨在引发性唤起的机器人即将问世。性唤起可以增加我们从事危险或非常规性行为的意愿。然而，研究人员尚未检验这种影响是否延伸至机器人。因此，这项研究提供了第一个经验证据，表明状态性唤起可以增加我们与机器人进行性接触的意愿。根据之前的研究，我们假设性唤起水平会积极预测与机器人进行性接触的意愿（假设 1）；并且男性比女性更愿意与机器人发生性关系（假设 2）。321 名成年人（≥18 岁）的便利样本完成了一项分为两部分的在线调查，衡量他们与以下人员发生性关系、爱、建立亲密关系的意愿，在观看色情视频之前和之后与机器人和人类成为朋友。结果部分支持假设 1-2。他们表明，状态性唤起会增加与机器人发生性关系的意愿，并且男性比女性更愿意发生性行为并与机器人建立亲密关系，无论是在操纵前还是操纵后。鉴于性爱机器人的兴起及其对我们亲密决定和行为的潜在影响，这些发现很重要。