Lin, J; Li, Q; Zhang, K and Zhang, C (2026) Autonomous and intervention-based trust calibration in construction robots: Impact on unsafe behavior. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 152(1): 04025218, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
As the construction industry increasingly adopts robotic systems, ensuring effective and safe human-robot interactions (HRIs) becomes critical. Trust in robots plays a critical role in shaping the safety and performance of workers. However, little is known about how trust evolves in dynamic construction environments or its impact on unsafe behavior in HRIs. This study examines the calibration of trust in robots within construction HRIs and its impact on unsafe behavior, focusing on the effects of both autonomous and intervention-based trust calibration methods. A mixed experimental design was conducted with 50 participants, incorporating two types of trust tasks (trust repair and dampening), two phases of autonomous calibration, and three intervention strategies (virtual reality-based training, textbook learning, and incentive and punishment). Multisource data, including questionnaires, electrodermal activity, and human-robot collision data in virtual reality, were analyzed using regression models. The findings demonstrated that both autonomous calibration and intervention-based methods significantly influence workers' trust in robots. Virtual reality-based training can either repair or dampen trust in robots, depending on the training setup. Overtrust was found to lead to unsafe behavior, whereas autonomous calibration helped mitigate collisions, confirming the critical role of calibrated trust in enhancing safety. These results highlight the importance of trust calibration in promoting safer and more efficient HRIs in construction.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | calibration; construction safety; construction worker; human-robot interaction; intervention methods; trust; unsafe behavior; virtual reality |
| Index terms: | repair, construction safety, questionnaire, intervention strategy, unsafe behaviour, trust repair, interaction, construction industry, construction worker, virtual reality, experimental design, regression model |
| Subjects: | practitioner, psychology, maintenance engineering, financial risk, behavioral psychology, data collection methods, virtual reality, research design and methodology, industry analysis, environmental health, statistical analysis |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Organizational Design, Digital Applications, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here