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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Don’T Touch That Dial: Psychological Reactance, Transparency, And User Acceptance Of Smart Thermostat Setting Changes, Matthew Heatherly, Denise A. Baker, Casey I. Canfield
Don’T Touch That Dial: Psychological Reactance, Transparency, And User Acceptance Of Smart Thermostat Setting Changes, Matthew Heatherly, Denise A. Baker, Casey I. Canfield
Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works
Automation inherently removes a certain amount of user control. If perceived as a loss of freedom, users may experience psychological reactance, which is a motivational state that can lead a person to engage in behaviors to reassert their freedom. In an online experiment, participants set up and communicated with a hypothetical smart thermostat. Participants read notifications about a change in the thermostat's setting. Phrasing of notifications was altered across three dimensions: strength of authoritative language, deviation of temperature change from preferences, and whether or not the reason for the change was transparent. Authoritative language, temperatures outside the user's preferences, and …