Public Acceptance of Autonomous Vehicles in China

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have attracted extensive attention worldwide for their huge potential to revolutionize urban cities. The diffusion of AVs in cities will largely depend on public acceptance of AVs. But many studies revealed that people hold a high level of concern about AVs. This study aims to enrich our understanding of public acceptance of AVs in China, both at the explicit level and at the implicit level. We also attempt to enhance people’s positive attitudes toward AVs by Evaluative Conditioning (EC). Study 1 found that participants recognized the benefits of AVs, but were also concerned about them. Moreover, participants showed only moderate trust in AVs. In Study 2, it was observed that participants mainly showed positive implicit attitudes toward AVs and there was no significant correlation between implicit and explicit attitudes toward AVs. In Study 3, EC offered an alternative way to change implicit attitudes. Specifically, implicit attitudes toward AVs were positively increased through EC, whereas explicit attitudes did not change significantly. This research provides several theoretical and practical implications. The findings support the notion that explicit and implicit attitudes involve independent psychological processes, and that implicit attitude can be changed through EC.自动驾驶汽车（Autonomous Vehicles，AVs）因其具备革新城市交通格局的巨大潜力，已在全球范围内引发广泛关注。自动驾驶汽车在城市中的普及程度，将在很大程度上取决于公众对其的接受度。但诸多研究表明，公众对自动驾驶汽车仍抱有较高程度的担忧。本研究旨在深化对中国公众自动驾驶汽车接受度的认知，涵盖外显与内隐两个层面。本研究同时尝试通过评价性条件反射（Evaluative Conditioning，EC）提升公众对自动驾驶汽车的积极态度。研究一发现，参与者既认可自动驾驶汽车的优势，同时也对其存在担忧；此外，参与者对自动驾驶汽车的信任程度仅处于中等水平。研究二的结果显示，参与者对自动驾驶汽车主要呈现出积极的内隐态度，且其对自动驾驶汽车的内隐态度与外显态度之间不存在显著相关性。研究三表明，评价性条件反射可作为改变内隐态度的有效手段：具体而言，通过评价性条件反射可正向提升公众对自动驾驶汽车的内隐态度，而外显态度则未出现显著变化。本研究具备多项理论与实践价值。研究结果佐证了如下观点：外显态度与内隐态度分属不同的心理加工过程，且内隐态度可通过评价性条件反射得以改变。