Department of Engineering Management & Systems Engineering, Missouri University of Science & Technology, Rolla, MO, United States of America.
Department of Psychological Science, Missouri University of Science & Technology, Rolla, MO, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2023 Jul 24;18(7):e0289017. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289017. eCollection 2023.
Automation inherently removes a certain amount of user control. If perceived as a loss of freedom, users may experience psychological reactance, which is a motivational state that can lead a person to engage in behaviors to reassert their freedom. In an online experiment, participants set up and communicated with a hypothetical smart thermostat. Participants read notifications about a change in the thermostat's setting. Phrasing of notifications was altered across three dimensions: strength of authoritative language, deviation of temperature change from preferences, and whether or not the reason for the change was transparent. Authoritative language, temperatures outside the user's preferences, and lack of transparency induced significantly higher levels of reactance. However, when the system presented a temperature change outside of the user's preferences, reactance was mitigated and user acceptance was higher if the thermostat's operations were transparent. Providing justification may be less likely to induce psychological reactance and increase user acceptance. This supports efforts to use behavioral approaches, such as demand response, to increase sustainability and limit the impacts of climate change.
自动化本质上会减少用户的一些控制权。如果用户认为这是失去自由，他们可能会体验到心理抗拒，这是一种动机状态，可能导致人们采取行为来重申自己的自由。在一项在线实验中，参与者设置并与一个假设的智能恒温器进行了交流。参与者阅读了关于恒温器设置变化的通知。通知的措辞在三个维度上进行了改变：权威性语言的强度、温度变化与偏好的偏离程度，以及改变的原因是否透明。权威性语言、超出用户偏好的温度和缺乏透明度会显著增加抗拒感。然而，当系统呈现出超出用户偏好的温度变化时，如果恒温器的操作是透明的，那么抗拒感会减轻，用户接受度会更高。提供理由不太可能引起心理抗拒，并提高用户接受度。这支持了使用行为方法（如需求响应）来提高可持续性和限制气候变化影响的努力。
