AgeLab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, MA, USA.
Risk Anal. 2019 Feb;39(2):358-374. doi: 10.1111/risa.13267. Epub 2019 Jan 16.
Self-driving vehicles will affect the future of transportation, but factors that underlie perception and acceptance of self-driving cars are yet unclear. Research on feelings as information and the affect heuristic has suggested that feelings are an important source of information, especially in situations of complexity and uncertainty. In this study (N = 1,484), we investigated how feelings related to traditional driving affect risk perception, benefit perception, and trust related to self-driving cars as well as people's acceptance of the technology. Due to limited experiences with and knowledge of self-driving cars, we expected that feelings related to a similar experience, namely, driving regular cars, would influence judgments of self-driving cars. Our results support this assumption. While positive feelings of enjoyment predicted higher benefit perception and trust, negative affect predicted higher risk and higher benefit perception of self-driving cars. Feelings of control were inversely related to risk and benefit perception, which is in line with research on the affect heuristic. Furthermore, negative affect was an important source of information for judgments of use and acceptance. Interest in using a self-driving car was also predicted by lower risk perception, higher benefit perception, and higher levels of trust in the technology. Although people's individual experiences with advanced vehicle technologies and knowledge were associated with perceptions and acceptance, many simply have never been exposed to the technology and know little about it. In the absence of this experience or knowledge, all that is left is the knowledge, experience, and feelings they have related to regular driving.
自动驾驶汽车将影响未来的交通，但影响人们对自动驾驶汽车的感知和接受的因素尚不清楚。有关情感作为信息的研究和情感启发式表明，情感是信息的重要来源，尤其是在复杂和不确定的情况下。在这项研究中（N=1484），我们调查了与传统驾驶相关的感觉如何影响对自动驾驶汽车的风险感知、收益感知和信任，以及人们对该技术的接受程度。由于人们对自动驾驶汽车的经验和了解有限，我们预计与类似经验（即驾驶普通汽车）相关的感觉会影响对自动驾驶汽车的判断。我们的研究结果支持了这一假设。虽然享受等积极感觉预测了更高的收益感知和信任度，但负面情绪则预测了更高的风险和更高的自动驾驶汽车收益感知。控制感与风险和收益感知呈负相关，这与情感启发式的研究一致。此外，负面情绪是判断使用和接受的重要信息来源。对自动驾驶汽车的使用兴趣也可以由较低的风险感知、较高的收益感知和对技术的较高信任度来预测。尽管人们对先进车辆技术的个人经验和知识与感知和接受相关，但许多人根本没有接触过该技术，对其了解甚少。在缺乏这种经验或知识的情况下，他们剩下的只是与普通驾驶相关的知识、经验和感觉。
