New Reichman University study: can a robotic dog choose our next leader?

A study from the Media Innovation Lab (miLAB) at Reichman University’s School of Communications explored how a robotic dog can influence leadership dynamics between humans. The study revealed that simple gestures of affection from a robot can encourage people to take charge and assume leadership roles, even without explicit guidance. The article on the study won the Best Paper Award in the Behavioral Research in Human-Robot Interaction category at the prestigious HRI2025 robotics conference held this week in Melbourne, Australia.

The paper examined whether a robotic dog could influence leadership dynamics between humans. In the study, two people were asked to work as a team with a robotic dog to perform a search task. There was no formal leader assigned to the team, and no instructions were given on how they should divide responsibilities between themselves. When the robot displayed a clear preference for one of the team members during the initial encounter, that participant naturally took charge and managed the task without any explicit demand or expectation — effectively becoming the team leader. In the vast majority of cases, the other participant accepted their team member’s leadership, and even described the team dynamic as positive. In contrast, when the robot exhibited equal affection toward both participants, without favoring one over the other, a shared leadership structure emerged.

The study’s findings highlight that robots can encourage spontaneous “emergent leadership” in people through simple affectionate body gestures, without the need for explicit and formal leadership instructions. In addition, the study underscores the importance of initial encounters between humans and robots, and their impact on long-term engagement. The article was authored by a research group from the Sammy Ofer School of Communications at Reichman University, under the supervision of Dr. Hadas Erel. The study was led by doctoral student Elior Carsenti, alongside students Adi Manor and Agam Oberlender, and in collaboration with Prof. Avi Parush from the Technion.

Dr. Hadas Erel, Sammy Ofer School of Communications, Reichman University: “The most interesting aspect of this research is the potential to use robots to encourage important social processes. We demonstrate how robotic behavior can be designed to intervene in sensitive social situations where human intervention may be ineffective. Integrating principles from social psychology into robotic behavior opens up new possibilities for improving relationships and interactions between people.”