Abstract
<p>Human–robot collaboration is gradually emerging as a new mode of work in intelligent organizations. Trust serves as the foundation for cooperation among team members, and it is established and dynamically evolves through interaction. Therefore, it is particularly important to understand how human–robot interaction influences trust and how this process differs from interpersonal interaction. Through one pilot experiment and two formal experiments, the present study examined, from a dynamic perspective, the effects of multi-round feedback from robot versus human sources on the evolution of trust and cooperation. The pilot experiment was conducted to select appropriate positive and negative feedback statements. In the formal experiments, participants collaborated with either a robot or a human teammate to complete five rounds of an investment decision-making task, during which they evaluated each other between rounds. Participants received four rounds of negative feedback from either a robot or a human teammate in Experiment 1, and four rounds of positive feedback in Experiment 2. The results showed that, in the context of multi-round negative feedback, trust and cooperation exhibited a clearer source-dependent pattern. Specifically, under robot-generated negative feedback, trust and cooperation were more likely to follow a “lagged-cumulative” evolutionary pattern, characterized by delayed responses and cumulative effects. In contrast, under human-generated negative feedback, trust and cooperation were more likely to follow an “immediate-responsive” evolutionary pattern, characterized by higher sensitivity and stronger adaptability. However, in the context of multi-round positive feedback, no significant differences were found in the dynamic effects of different feedback sources on trust and cooperation. This study provides empirical evidence for understanding the differentiated evolution of human–robot trust and interpersonal trust from a dynamic perspective, and offers practical implications for the design of feedback strategies in hybrid teams.</p>