--- title: "Building Trust and Rapport With Social Robots: Insights From Professor Hsiu-Ping Yueh" description: "Empowering Active Aging Through Co-Designed Digital Tools: Insights From Professor Anna Whittaker" image: https://blog.jmir.org/hubfs/01%20JMIR%20Aging/2026%20Aging%20Campaign/Hsiu-Ping%20Yueh.png --- [![JMIR Publications logo](https://blog.jmir.org/hs-fs/hubfs/JMIR-Publications_logo_2020_original.png?width=550&height=109&name=JMIR-Publications_logo_2020_original.png "JMIR Publications logo")](http://www.jmirpublications.com) Open main menu Close main menu [Research News](https://blog.jmir.org/tag/research-news) [Aging](https://blog.jmir.org/tag/aging) # Building Trust and Rapport With Social Robots: Insights From Professor Hsiu-Ping Yueh ![Jane Kelly, Integrated Marketing Manager](https://blog.jmir.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-07-20%20at%205.08.33%20PM.png?width=45&name=Screenshot%202026-07-20%20at%205.08.33%20PM.png) [Jane Kelly, Integrated Marketing Manager](https://blog.jmir.org/author/jane-kelly) Published Date: 24 September 2026 11:00 a.m. [Share this blog post on Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=I+found+this+interesting+blog+post&url=https://blog.jmir.org/building-trust-and-rapport-with-social-robots-insights-from-professor-hsiu-ping-yueh) [Share this blog post on Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://blog.jmir.org/building-trust-and-rapport-with-social-robots-insights-from-professor-hsiu-ping-yueh) [Share this blog post on LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.jmir.org/building-trust-and-rapport-with-social-robots-insights-from-professor-hsiu-ping-yueh) ![Header for JMIR Aging blog featuring photo of Hsiu-Ping Yueh](https://blog.jmir.org/hubfs/01%20JMIR%20Aging/2026%20Aging%20Campaign/Hsiu-Ping%20Yueh.png) --- In the third post for our Healthy Aging® Month video series, Hsiu-Ping Yueh, PhD from [National Taiwan University](https://www.ntu.edu.tw/english/) gives an overview of her team’s research published in [*JMIR Aging*](https://aging.jmir.org/). Joining her in the video are two Kebbi social robots, her "co-stars" in studying how technology can tackle social isolation in older adults. | **Key Takeaways** | | --- | | **Smiles Build Trust:** Positive, happy facial expressions significantly enhance robot acceptance, rapport, and user trust among older adults. | | **Warmth Compensates for Behavior:** A smiling facial expression can partially offset exclusive or ignoring robot behavior, keeping user trust and rapport surprisingly high. | | **Older Adults Value Fairness:** Contrary to younger cohorts, older adults actively choose to engage with exclusive robots to ensure turn-taking and equitable treatment for all participants. |   --- Listen to this blog post 3:19 ---   In her video, Hsiu-Ping Yueh highlights that while social robots offer a promising solution to combat![A woman sits with 2 social robots](https://blog.jmir.org/hs-fs/hubfs/91235.png?width=233&height=175&name=91235.png) loneliness, a robot only helps if the interaction feels genuinely good. Her team's study explored two critical nonverbal cues: facial expressions and inclusive turn-taking behavior. Professor Yueh reveals three key findings: smiles matter immensely for building trust; a warm, smiling face can partially compensate when a robot behaves exclusively; and surprisingly, older adults actively chose to engage more with the ignoring robot out of a deeply held sense of fairness and empathy. ### Decoding Human-Robot Interactions in Healthy Aging The video builds directly on the findings of a novel mixed-factorial experiment published in *JMIR Aging*, titled "[The Influence of Robot Facial Expression and Inclusion Behavior on Rapport and Trust in Older Adults: Mixed-Factorial Experimental Study](https://aging.jmir.org/2026/1/e91235/)". The study evaluated how 53 community-dwelling older adults (averaging 70 years old) responded to two humanoid Kebbi robots displaying different combinations of facial expressions (happy vs. unhappy) and interaction styles (inclusive vs. exclusive) during an adapted group game. The research demonstrated that positive facial expressions significantly boosted robot acceptance, rapport, and trust with medium-to-large effect sizes. The study uncovered a powerful interaction effect: while inclusive behavior created baseline social engagement, a smiling face became crucial under exclusive conditions—meaning a warm facial expression can soften negative or ambiguous robot behavior. ### Older Adults as Prosocial Caretakers of Technology Perhaps the study's most surprising contribution lies in the behavioral responses of the participants. Contrary to younger cohorts in previous studies who favored inclusive robots, older adults deliberately selected the exclusive robot more frequently during gameplay. Qualitative interviews revealed that participants were guided by strong values of equity and turn-taking, making sure the "ignoring" robot was included so everyone got a turn. These findings carry vital implications for developers creating assistive devices for aging populations. Beyond engineering inclusive behaviors and warm visual cues, social robot designers must recognize that older adults bring deeply held social schemas and prosocial values into these interactions. Rather than viewing robots as mere machines, older adults treat them as social entities deserving of fair treatment—offering an inspiring blueprint for technology designed to foster meaningful human connection. | | Hsiu-Ping Yueh discusses research evaluating how a social robot's facial expressions and interaction styles influence rapport, acceptance, and trust among community-dwelling older adults. | | | --- | --- | --- | While social robots offer innovative ways to combat loneliness, technology is only one piece of the healthy aging puzzle. Next up in our series, Professor Eliza Wong demonstrates how a simple, gamified tabletop game can foster deep, meaningful conversations across human generations. --- Yueh H, Lin K, Lin W The Influence of Robot Facial Expression and Inclusion Behavior on Rapport and Trust in Older Adults: Mixed-Factorial Experimental Study JMIR Aging 2026;9:e91235 URL: [https://aging.jmir.org/2026/1/e91235](https://aging.jmir.org/2026/1/e91235/) DOI: [10.2196/91235](https://aging.jmir.org/2026/1/e91235/) ![Jane Kelly, Integrated Marketing Manager](https://blog.jmir.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-07-20%20at%205.08.33%20PM.png?width=150&name=Screenshot%202026-07-20%20at%205.08.33%20PM.png) #### Jane Kelly, Integrated Marketing Manager Jane Kelly is the Integrated Marketing Manager at JMIR Publications. Bringing a career's worth of experience in the publishing industry, she uses strategic storytelling to connect diverse research communities with global audiences and make high-impact clinical discoveries accessible to all. ### Leave a Comment ## Related Articles [![Header for JMIR Aging blog featuring photo of Eliza Lai-Yi Wong](https://blog.jmir.org/hubfs/01%20JMIR%20Aging/2026%20Aging%20Campaign/Eliza%20Lai-Yi%20Wong.png)](https://blog.jmir.org/bridging-generational-divides-through-gamified-dialogue-insights-from-professor-eliza-wong) [Research News](https://blog.jmir.org/tag/research-news) [Aging](https://blog.jmir.org/tag/aging) ### [Bridging Generational Divides Through Gamified Dialogue](https://blog.jmir.org/bridging-generational-divides-through-gamified-dialogue-insights-from-professor-eliza-wong) In the fourth and final blog entry of our Healthy Aging® Month series, Eliza Wong, PhD from the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care at [The Chinese...](https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/english/index.html) ![Jane Kelly, Integrated Marketing Manager](https://blog.jmir.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-07-20%20at%205.08.33%20PM.png?width=45&name=Screenshot%202026-07-20%20at%205.08.33%20PM.png) [Jane Kelly, Integrated Marketing Manager](https://blog.jmir.org/author/jane-kelly) [Read More](https://blog.jmir.org/bridging-generational-divides-through-gamified-dialogue-insights-from-professor-eliza-wong) [![Blog banner featuring a photo of Anna Whittaker](https://blog.jmir.org/hubfs/01%20JMIR%20Aging/2026%20Aging%20Campaign/Anna%20Whittaker.png)](https://blog.jmir.org/supporting-frontline-aged-care-workers-to-transform-in-home-services) [Research News](https://blog.jmir.org/tag/research-news) [Aging](https://blog.jmir.org/tag/aging) ### [Empowering Active Aging Through Co-Designed Digital Tools](https://blog.jmir.org/supporting-frontline-aged-care-workers-to-transform-in-home-services) This September for Healthy Aging® Month, [*JMIR Aging*](https://aging.jmir.org/) is bringing peer-reviewed science off the page and into daily life. We are spotlighting four articles and their lead... ![Jane Kelly, Integrated Marketing Manager](https://blog.jmir.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-07-20%20at%205.08.33%20PM.png?width=45&name=Screenshot%202026-07-20%20at%205.08.33%20PM.png) [Jane Kelly, Integrated Marketing Manager](https://blog.jmir.org/author/jane-kelly) [Read More](https://blog.jmir.org/supporting-frontline-aged-care-workers-to-transform-in-home-services) #### About - Menu Item One - Menu Item Two - Menu Item Three #### Services - Menu Item One - Menu Item Two - Menu Item Three #### News - Menu Item One - Menu Item Two - Menu Item Three Follow us on Facebook Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Jane Kelly, Integrated Marketing Manager", "url" : "https://blog.jmir.org/author/jane-kelly" }, "dateModified" : "2026-09-24T15:00:02.434Z", "datePublished" : "2026-09-24T15:00:02.000Z", "headline" : "Building Trust and Rapport With Social Robots: Insights From Professor Hsiu-Ping Yueh", "image" : [ "https://blog.jmir.org/hubfs/01%20JMIR%20Aging/2026%20Aging%20Campaign/Hsiu-Ping%20Yueh.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.jmir.org/building-trust-and-rapport-with-social-robots-insights-from-professor-hsiu-ping-yueh", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.jmir.org/hubfs/JMIR-Publications_logo_2020_original.png" }, "name" : "JMIR Publications" } } ```