ABSTRACT
Physical contact such as touching and hugging is essential for promoting social bonding between individuals by facilitating interactions and sharing personal information, i.e., self-disclosures. However, it is unclear whether physical interactions with robots can produce similar effects to those seen in human-to-human interaction, despite the discovery of several positive effects associated with touch-based interactions. To investigate this question, we utilized a hugging robot that we previously developed to examine the impact of physical interactions on social bonding and self-disclosures in a sample of 48 participants. Our findings suggest that reciprocated hugs increased interaction times and produced greater levels of self-disclosure among the hugged participants compared to those who did not receive them.
