Personality assessment as a measure of nonhuman mental capacities: A study in anthropomorphism

Humans often attribute a humanlike mind to a nonhuman to better understand its behavior in a process known as anthropomorphism. This paper seeks to use personality assessment as a measure of perceived humanlike mental capacities of computers. The relationship was further examined by comparing to assessments of a living counterpart, in this case pets. Participants were given a Big Five Personality inventory and asked to rate each item’s suitability to describe a person, a computer, or a pet. Results indicate that computers are seen for their intellectual similarity to humans while pets have a social and emotional similarity to humans. This research shows that measures of human mental characteristics, such as personality, can also be used to describe nonhumans. Researchers can now better understand the relationship between humans and the various nonhumans in their lives and use this to design more effective interactions.