Human and machine-induced social stress in complex work environments: Effects on performance and subjective state

Social stress at work can lead to severe consequences. As a result of technological developments, social stress will increasingly be induced by machines. It is therefore crucial to understand how machine-induced social stress affects operators. The present study aimed to compare human and machine-induced social stress with regard to its effect on primary and secondary task performance, and on subjective state (e.g., self-esteem, mood and justice). 90 participants worked on a high-fidelity simulation of a complex work environment, on which they had received extensive training (2h15). Social stress was induced by a human or a machine using a combination of negative performance feedback and ostracism. Results indicate that social stress did not affect performance, affect or state self-esteem. Machine-induced and human-induced social stress overall had similar effects, except for the latter impairing perceived justice. We discuss implications of these results for automation at the workplace and outline future research directions.

Automated summary

This study compared the effects of human-induced and machine-induced social stress on task performance and subjective state. The results showed that social stress did not directly affect performance, affect, or self-esteem, but human-induced social stress impaired perceived justice.