Occupational gender stereotyping of humanoid robots in hospitality
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND TOURISM, cilt.28, ss.1-29, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 28
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s40558-026-00408-9
- Dergi Adı: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND TOURISM
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus, Technology Collection (ProQuest), Aerospace Database, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), ABI/INFORM, Hospitality & Tourism Complete, Hospitality & Tourism Index
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-29
- Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
This study examines whether occupational gender stereotypes traditionally applied to human workers are implicitly transferred to humanoid service robots in hospitality settings. Using an indirect pronoun-completion task embedded in a fictional hotel scenario, 401 U.S. consumers indicated the perceived gender of robots performing nine typical hotel roles without ever being asked about gender directly, thereby minimizing social desirability bias. Results reveal strong and systematic stereotyping: only receptionist and housekeeper roles were implicitly gendered as feminine (42% and 47% “she/her”), whereas the remaining seven roles (human resources manager, concierge, valet, maintenance technician, waiter, massage therapist, and room service) were predominantly gendered as masculine (54% overall masculine attributions versus 22% feminine and 23% gender-neutral). Chi-square analyses and Benjamini–Hochberg-corrected tests further showed significant respondent-gender differences for five occupations, with male respondents exhibiting stronger masculine stereotyping for agentic roles and female respondents stronger feminine stereotyping for communal roles. These findings demonstrate that deeply entrenched occupational gender schemas are spontaneously projected onto anthropomorphic robots, extending Social Role Theory and Schema Theory into human–robot interaction. The results carry both practical and ethical implications: while gender-congruent robot design may facilitate short-term consumer acceptance in hospitality, it simultaneously risks reproducing and legitimizing existing gender inequalities in the labor market. The study therefore advocates cautious, evidence-informed approaches that balance immediate usability gains against long-term societal consequences in the deployment of gendered humanoid service robots.