Emotional Tides in the Sea of Automation: The Interplay of Emotions and Trust on Automation Reliance
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
Psychology, Industrial and Organizational
Date of Defense
3-3-2026
Graduate Advisor
Stephanie M. Merritt
Committee
John Meriac
Matthew J. Taylor
Dinesh Mirchandani
Abstract
The present study examined the interplay between emotions and trust in the context of automation reliance. The study investigated whether specific emotions (happiness, interest, anger, sadness, and fear) systematically impacted users’ trust in an x-ray screening decision aid, their reliance on the aid, as well as their resilience to any errors made by the aid. Despite successfully inducing certain emotional states, there was no significant relationship between emotions and trust in / reliance on the automated aid. Supplemental analyses revealed that stable individual difference traits (i.e. propensity to trust) to be a strong predictor of initial trust levels in the automated aid. Taken together, the present results highlight the complexities of human-automation interaction (HAI) as well as the importance of considering interactions between cognitive factors, affective factors, and individual differences in the pursuit of optimizing the trust levels between human and automation. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Shirase, Lei, "Emotional Tides in the Sea of Automation: The Interplay of Emotions and Trust on Automation Reliance" (2026). Dissertations. 1595.
https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/1595