Politeness cannot make up for robots’ errors

SK Shikhar Kumar

doi:10.3389/frobt.2026.1760163

Politeness cannot make up for robots’ errors

2026-06-17

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VS Vardit Sarne-Fleischmann

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YE Yael Edan

DOI：10.3389/frobt.2026.1760163

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We investigated the impact of robot politeness and error-prone behavior on user perceptions through two user studies involving non-humanoid robots. Politeness was operationalized at two levels based on Lakoff’s; (1973) politeness rules—one condition implemented all three of Lakoff’s rules; demonstrating the highest level of politeness; while the other omitted them; resulting in a behavior that was strict but not impolite. The correctness was manipulated by comparing an error-free robot behavior to a behavior that included intentional errors. The studies were conducted using two different tasks with two robot types—a mobile robot and a manipulator robot—and involved 59 young adult participants (ages 24–28) with engineering backgrounds. Participants consistently rated the correct and polite robots most favorably. However; politeness did not offset the negative effects of erroneous behavior. In both studies; the robot that was correct but strict was rated more positively than the one that was polite yet made mistakes. These findings suggest that; at least in utilitarian task settings involving technically proficient users; politeness alone cannot compensate for performance failures. Moreover; a polite robot that makes errors may even frustrate users more than a straightforward but accurate one. The findings also emphasize the importance of evaluating HRI performance across different robot types and tasks; as these factors significantly shape user perceptions.

Keywords:

human-robot interaction (HRI)

politeness

assistive robot

robot errors

types of robots

Politeness cannot make up for robots’ errors

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