The awareness attribution scale: an Italian validation study

Understanding how people attribute awareness to robots is essential for developing socially and ethically aligned Human-Robot Interactions (HRI). This study presents the Italian validation of the Awareness Attribution Scale (AAS), an existing psychometric instrument designed to measure the attribution of awareness to artificial agents. The adaptation procedures (forward translation, native-speaker review, back-translation, and testing) were performed with the AAS. The final translated version was administered to Italian participants (N = 200) to rate different entities on perceived awareness. Analyses demonstrated good internal reliability of the Italian scale and expected attribution patterns across entities. These results provide evidence that the Italian AAS behaves consistently with the original English version, supporting its use in future cross-cultural research on awareness attribution. Furthermore, these findings advance cross-cultural knowledge of awareness attribution, a fundamental component of more inclusive settings.