Exploring the relationship between operator experience, propensity to trust automation and perceived system trustworthiness of uncrewed air vehicles
Exploring the relationship between operator experience, propensity to trust automation and perceived system trustworthiness of uncrewed air vehicles
This study investigated whether prior crewed aviation experience and wider demographics influenced Uncrewed Air Vehicle (UAV) operators’ propensity to trust and perceived trustworthiness of UAVs. Appropriate trust in automation is essential for managing workload and avoiding user intervention errors that could otherwise have been prevented in UAV operation. Thirty eight UAV operators completed an online survey containing demographic questions, the Propensity-To-Trust Automation (PTT-A) scale, and the System Trustworthiness Scale (STS). No difference was found in PTT-A scores between operators with limited (<100 hours) and substantial (≥100 hours) crewed flight experience. However, those with substantial crewed experience rated UAV systems significantly lower on the STS. Regression analysis showed perceived trustworthiness was significantly predicted by PTT-A facets of competence, benevolence, and integrity. These findings suggest that UAV system design, and processes should be tailored to accommodate operator experiential differences to support trust calibration and system safety.
Trust in automation, expert-novice differences, flight deck design, human-automation interaction, uncrewed air systems
Grindley, Ben
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Cherrett, Tom
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Scanlan, James
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Plant, Katherine L.
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Grindley, Ben
62e6fdac-79c0-4af4-a725-6a0d99d9c9c3
Cherrett, Tom
e5929951-e97c-4720-96a8-3e586f2d5f95
Scanlan, James
7ad738f2-d732-423f-a322-31fa4695529d
Plant, Katherine L.
3638555a-f2ca-4539-962c-422686518a78
Grindley, Ben, Cherrett, Tom, Scanlan, James and Plant, Katherine L.
(2026)
Exploring the relationship between operator experience, propensity to trust automation and perceived system trustworthiness of uncrewed air vehicles.
Ergonomics.
(doi:10.1080/00140139.2026.2625177).
Abstract
This study investigated whether prior crewed aviation experience and wider demographics influenced Uncrewed Air Vehicle (UAV) operators’ propensity to trust and perceived trustworthiness of UAVs. Appropriate trust in automation is essential for managing workload and avoiding user intervention errors that could otherwise have been prevented in UAV operation. Thirty eight UAV operators completed an online survey containing demographic questions, the Propensity-To-Trust Automation (PTT-A) scale, and the System Trustworthiness Scale (STS). No difference was found in PTT-A scores between operators with limited (<100 hours) and substantial (≥100 hours) crewed flight experience. However, those with substantial crewed experience rated UAV systems significantly lower on the STS. Regression analysis showed perceived trustworthiness was significantly predicted by PTT-A facets of competence, benevolence, and integrity. These findings suggest that UAV system design, and processes should be tailored to accommodate operator experiential differences to support trust calibration and system safety.
Text
Exploring the relationship between operator experience propensity to trust automation and perceived system trustworthiness of uncrewed Air Vehicles
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Accepted/In Press date: 21 January 2026
e-pub ahead of print date: 5 February 2026
Keywords:
Trust in automation, expert-novice differences, flight deck design, human-automation interaction, uncrewed air systems
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 509738
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/509738
ISSN: 1366-5847
PURE UUID: 2d6ff2f1-9d68-45d1-94ae-e0c4d6fc87ca
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Date deposited: 03 Mar 2026 18:04
Last modified: 07 Mar 2026 03:13
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Author:
Ben Grindley
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