Care Workers’ Readiness for Robotization : Identifying Psychological and Socio-Demographic Determinants

Abstract

Successful implementation of robots in welfare services requires that the staff approves of them as a part of daily work tasks. In this study, we identified psychological and socio-demographic determinants associated with readiness for robotization among professional Finnish care-workers. National survey data were collected from professional care workers (n = 3800) between October and November 2016. Random samples were drawn from the member registers of two Finnish trade unions. The data were analyzed with regression models for respondents with and without firsthand experience with robots. The models explained 34–39% of the variance in the readiness for robotization. The readiness was positively associated with self-efficacy, perceived social norms, interest in technology, and perceived impacts on employment. It was also found that the readiness was less determined by age, gender, profession and job satisfaction among the respondents with firsthand robot experience. Among care workers with no experience with robots, older age and lower job satisfaction predicted a readiness for robotization. Care workers stand out as a distinctive group of potential service robot users, with their high confidence in using new technology and low job satisfaction predicting a higher readiness for robotization. Social norms among care workers emerged as an important factor in the readiness for robotization.