{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T19:44:26Z","timestamp":1777319066897,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":66,"publisher":"Walter de Gruyter GmbH","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,24]],"date-time":"2020-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1592956800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,24]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>The idea of sex with robots seems to fascinate the general public, raising both enthusiasm and revulsion. We ran two experimental studies (<jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>s<\/jats:sub> = 172 and 260) where we compared people\u2019s reactions to variants of stories about a person visiting a bordello. Our results show that paying for the services of a sex robot is condemned less harshly than paying for the services of a human sex worker, especially if the payer is married. We have for the first time experimentally confirmed that people are somewhat unsure about whether using a sex robot while in a committed monogamous relationship should be considered as infidelity. We also shed light on the psychological factors influencing attitudes toward sex robots, including disgust sensitivity and interest in science fiction. Our results indicate that sex with a robot is indeed genuinely considered as sex, and a sex robot is genuinely seen as a robot; thus, we show that standard research methods on sexuality and robotics are also applicable in research on sex robotics.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1515\/pjbr-2020-0012","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,3]],"date-time":"2020-07-03T09:04:40Z","timestamp":1593767080000},"page":"233-249","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Moral psychology of sex robots: An experimental study\u2009\u2212\u2009how pathogen disgust is associated with interhuman sex but not interandroid sex"],"prefix":"10.1515","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Mika","family":"Koverola","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Department of Digital Humanities, Cognitive Science, Helsinki, Finland"}]},{"given":"Marianna","family":"Drosinou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Department of Digital Humanities, Cognitive Science, Helsinki, Finland"}]},{"given":"Jussi","family":"Palom\u00e4ki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Department of Digital Humanities, Cognitive Science, Helsinki, Finland"}]},{"given":"Juho","family":"Halonen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Department of Digital Humanities, Cognitive Science, Helsinki, Finland"}]},{"given":"Anton","family":"Kunnari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Department of Digital Humanities, Cognitive Science, Helsinki, Finland"}]},{"given":"Marko","family":"Repo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Department of Digital Humanities, Cognitive Science, Helsinki, Finland"}]},{"given":"Noora","family":"Lehtonen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Department of Digital Humanities, Cognitive Science, Helsinki, Finland"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Laakasuo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Department of Digital Humanities, Cognitive Science, Helsinki, Finland"}]}],"member":"374","reference":[{"key":"ref531","article-title":"\u201cWhat makes people approve or condemn mind upload technology? 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Psychol."},{"key":"ref621","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 1029","DOI":"10.1037\/a0015141","article-title":"\u201cLiberals and conservatives rely on different sets of moral foundations,\u201d","volume":"vol. 96","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Person. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"ref381","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 295","DOI":"10.1080\/02699939308409191","article-title":"\u201cMaking sense of emotion in stories and social life,\u201d","volume":"vol. 7","year":"1993","journal-title":"Cognition and Emotion"},{"key":"ref761","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 163","DOI":"10.1080\/00224490609552311","article-title":"\u201cGender differences in the enactment of sociosexuality: an examination of implicit social motives, sexual fantasies, coercive sexual attitudes, and aggressive sexual behaviour,\u201d","volume":"vol. 43","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. 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Psychol."},{"key":"ref521","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 103","DOI":"10.1037\/a0015474","article-title":"\u201cMicrobes, mating, and morality: individual differences in three functional domains of disgust,\u201d","volume":"vol. 97","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Personal. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"ref351","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"Art. 45526","DOI":"10.1038\/srep45526","article-title":"\u201cIndividual differences in moral disgust do not predict utilitarian judgments, sexual and pathogen disgust do,\u201d","volume":"vol. 7","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sci. 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Health Illness"},{"key":"ref91","year":"2011","journal-title":"\u201cExposure to cinematic depictions of robots and attitudes towards them,\u201d"},{"key":"ref701","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 1113","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.95.5.1113","article-title":"\u201cBeyond global sociosexual orientations: a more differentiated look at sociosexuality and its effects on courtship and romantic relationships,\u201d","volume":"vol. 95","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Person. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"ref21","volume-title":"Personal Communication at a Disarmament NGO Meeting","year":"2018"},{"key":"ref341","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 300","DOI":"10.1037\/a0030964","article-title":"\u201cThings rank and gross in nature: a review and synthesis of moral disgust,\u201d","volume":"vol. 139","year":"2013","journal-title":"Psychol. Bull."},{"key":"ref731","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 300","DOI":"10.1037\/a0030964","article-title":"\u201cThings rank and gross in nature: a review and synthesis of moral disgust,\u201d","volume":"vol. 139","year":"2013","journal-title":"Psychol. Bull."},{"key":"ref111","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 340","DOI":"10.1080\/00223890902935878","article-title":"\u201cThe HEXACO-60: a short measure of the major dimensions of personality,\u201d","volume":"vol. 91","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Personal. Assess."},{"key":"ref331","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 341","DOI":"10.1037\/a0035120","article-title":"\u201cTrait physical disgust is related to moral judgments outside of the purity domain,\u201d","volume":"vol. 14","year":"2014","journal-title":"Emotion"},{"key":"ref141","article-title":"\u201cWhat makes people approve or condemn mind upload technology? Untangling the effects of sexual disgust, purity and science fiction familiarity,\u201d","volume":"vol. 4","year":"2018","journal-title":"Palgrave Commun."},{"key":"ref371","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 163","DOI":"10.1080\/00224490609552311","article-title":"\u201cGender differences in the enactment of sociosexuality: an examination of implicit social motives, sexual fantasies, coercive sexual attitudes, and aggressive sexual behaviour,\u201d","volume":"vol. 43","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Sex Res."},{"key":"ref581","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 58","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wsif.2016.12.007","article-title":"\u201cIs buying sex morally wrong? Comparing attitudes toward prostitution using individual-level data across eight Western European countries,\u201d","volume":"vol. 61","year":"2017","journal-title":"Women\u2019s Stud. Int. Forum"},{"key":"ref151","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 922","DOI":"10.1177\/0265407514554513","article-title":"\u201cMoral judgment of close relationship behaviors,\u201d","volume":"vol. 32","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Soc. Person. Relat."},{"key":"ref421","article-title":"\u201cIntimacy, bonding, and sex robots: examining empirical results and exploring ethical ramifications,\u201d","volume-title":"Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications","year":"2017"},{"key":"ref601","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 537","DOI":"10.1177\/1948550611429024","article-title":"\u201cDisgust sensitivity, political conservatism, and voting,\u201d","volume":"vol. 3","year":"2012","journal-title":"Soc. Psychol. Person. Sci."},{"key":"ref161","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 111","DOI":"10.1080\/13552600.2016.1217086","article-title":"\u201cApplying moral foundations theory to understanding public views of sexual offending,\u201d","volume":"vol. 23","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Sexual Aggres."},{"key":"ref751","volume-title":"Dimensions of Science Fiction","year":"1986"},{"key":"ref481","year":"2011","journal-title":"\u201cExposure to cinematic depictions of robots and attitudes towards them,\u201d"},{"key":"ref691","volume-title":"Moral Psychology, Volume 5: Virtue and Character","year":"2017"},{"key":"ref661","first-page":"pp. 290","article-title":"\u201cThe asymmetrical \u2018relationship\u2019: parallels between prostitution and the development of sex robots,\u201d","volume":"vol. 45","year":"2015","journal-title":"SIGCAS Comput. Soc."},{"key":"ref631","volume-title":"The righteous mind: why good people are divided by politics and religion","year":"2012"},{"key":"ref411","volume-title":"Personal Communication at a Disarmament NGO Meeting","year":"2018"},{"key":"ref641","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 191","DOI":"10.1080\/1554477X.2015.1019277","article-title":"\u201cProstitution ideology and trafficking policy: the impact of political approaches to domestic sex work on human trafficking policy in Australia and the United States,\u201d","volume":"vol. 36","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Women, Politics Policy"},{"key":"ref271","first-page":"pp. 290","article-title":"\u201cThe asymmetrical \u2018relationship\u2019: parallels between prostitution and the development of sex robots,\u201d","volume":"vol. 45","year":"2015","journal-title":"SIGCAS Comput. Soc."},{"key":"ref491","article-title":"\u201cA proposal for measuring value orientations across nations,\u201d","year":"2003","journal-title":"Questionnaire Development Report of the European Social Survey"},{"key":"ref511","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 366","DOI":"10.1037\/a0021847","article-title":"\u201cMapping the moral domain,\u201d","volume":"vol. 101","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Personal. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"ref101","article-title":"\u201cA proposal for measuring value orientations across nations,\u201d","year":"2003","journal-title":"Questionnaire Development Report of the European Social Survey"},{"key":"ref401","volume-title":"Robot Sex\u2009\u2013\u2009Social and Ethical Implications","year":"2017"},{"key":"ref501","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 340","DOI":"10.1080\/00223890902935878","article-title":"\u201cThe HEXACO-60: a short measure of the major dimensions of personality,\u201d","volume":"vol. 91","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Personal. Assess."},{"key":"ref611","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 1","DOI":"10.1002\/ijop.12416","article-title":"\u201cMoney for microbes\u2009\u2013\u2009pathogen avoidance and out-group helping behaviour,\u201d","volume":"vol. 53","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. J. Psychol."},{"key":"ref211","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 537","DOI":"10.1177\/1948550611429024","article-title":"\u201cDisgust sensitivity, political conservatism, and voting,\u201d","volume":"vol. 3","year":"2012","journal-title":"Soc. Psychol. Person. Sci."},{"key":"ref61","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 437","DOI":"10.1075\/is.7.3.14nom","article-title":"\u201cMeasurement of negative attitudes toward robots,\u201d","volume":"vol. 7","year":"2006","journal-title":"Interact. Stud."},{"key":"ref241","volume-title":"The righteous mind: why good people are divided by politics and religion","year":"2012"},{"key":"ref771","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 295","DOI":"10.1080\/02699939308409191","article-title":"\u201cMaking sense of emotion in stories and social life,\u201d","volume":"vol. 7","year":"1993","journal-title":"Cognition and Emotion"},{"key":"ref221","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 1","DOI":"10.1002\/ijop.12416","article-title":"\u201cMoney for microbes\u2009\u2013\u2009pathogen avoidance and out-group helping behaviour,\u201d","volume":"vol. 53","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. J. Psychol."},{"key":"ref191","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 58","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wsif.2016.12.007","article-title":"\u201cIs buying sex morally wrong? Comparing attitudes toward prostitution using individual-level data across eight Western European countries,\u201d","volume":"vol. 61","year":"2017","journal-title":"Women\u2019s Stud. Int. Forum"},{"key":"ref541","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"pp. 922","DOI":"10.1177\/0265407514554513","article-title":"\u201cMoral judgment of close relationship behaviors,\u201d","volume":"vol. 32","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Soc. Person. Relat."},{"key":"ref11","volume-title":"Robot Sex\u2009\u2013\u2009Social and Ethical Implications","year":"2017"},{"key":"ref281","article-title":"\u201cFrom sex robots to love robots: is mutual love with a robot possible?\u201d","volume-title":"Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications","year":"2017"}],"container-title":["Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.degruyter.com\/view\/journals\/pjbr\/11\/1\/article-p233.xml","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.degruyter.com\/document\/doi\/10.1515\/pjbr-2020-0012\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,22]],"date-time":"2021-04-22T04:01:16Z","timestamp":1619064076000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.degruyter.com\/document\/doi\/10.1515\/pjbr-2020-0012\/html"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,24]]},"references-count":66,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1"},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1515\/pjbr-2020-0012","relation":{},"ISSN":["2081-4836"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2081-4836","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,24]]}}}