Ethical Asymmetry in Human-Robot Interaction - An Empirical Test of Sparrow's Hypothesis

2026-02-02

AI Summary

This study presents the first empirical test of Sparrow’s moral asymmetry hypothesis, which posits a disparity in human moral judgments between harming robots and being harmed by robots. Employing a mixed within- and between-subjects experimental design, the research manipulates the moral permissibility of actions (MPA) and integrates an adapted Four Virtues Scale (QCV) with Malle et al.’s moral acceptability assessment framework. Data on participants’ perceived moral permissibility of actions (PMPA) and perceived virtue scores (PVS) were collected via online questionnaires. Results indicate that MPA significantly influences both PMPA and PVS, with their relationship following a symmetric cubic function, thereby failing to support the moral asymmetry hypothesis. The study further validates the potential utility of the adapted QCV scale in ethical research on human–robot interaction.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Human-Robot Interaction
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Safety, Robustness & Trustworthiness
• Humans and AI: Learning Human Values and Preferences

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Data quality aspects of human-annotated datasets
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics

Abstract

The ethics of human-robot interaction (HRI) have been discussed extensively based on three traditional frameworks: deontology, consequentialism, and virtue ethics. We conducted a mixed within/between experiment to investigate Sparrow's proposed ethical asymmetry hypothesis in human treatment of robots. The moral permissibility of action (MPA) was manipulated as a subject grouping variable, and virtue type (prudence, justice, courage, and temperance) was controlled as a within-subjects factor. We tested moral stimuli using an online questionnaire with Perceived Moral Permissibility of Action (PMPA) and Perceived Virtue Scores (PVS) as response measures. The PVS measure was based on an adaptation of the established Questionnaire on Cardinal Virtues (QCV), while the PMPA was based on Malle et al. [39] work. We found that the MPA significantly influenced the PMPA and perceived virtue scores. The best-fitting model to describe the relationship between PMPA and PVS was cubic, which is symmetrical in nature. Our study did not confirm Sparrow's asymmetry hypothesis. The adaptation of the QCV is expected to have utility for future studies, pending additional psychometric property assessments.

Problem

• ethical asymmetry
• human-robot interaction
• Sparrow's hypothesis
• moral permissibility
• virtue ethics

Innovation

• ethical asymmetry
• human-robot interaction
• cardinal virtues
• moral permissibility
• empirical ethics