Navigating the AI Era: How Perceived Organizational Support Shapes Employees’ AI-Related Anxiety via AI Self-Efficacy

Abstract

Purpose: This quantitative study examined the relationships between perceived organizational support (POS), Artificial intelligence self-efficacy (AISE), employees’ artificial intelligence learning anxiety (AILA), and AI job replacement anxiety (AIJRA) in private sector employees; it examined the potential direct effect of POS on both AILA and AIJRA, and the indirect effect via AISE by drawing on social cognitive theory and using structural equation modeling (SEM). Participants and Methods: Convenience and snowball sampling techniques were used to recruit 311 employees from the private sector in the Saudi context. Data were collected using an online survey and analyzed using Mplus to conduct confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and SEM. Results: In the total sample, POS influences AI learning anxiety only via AI self-efficacy (β = - 0.073; p ≤ 0.01). However, AI job replacement anxiety was influenced only directly by POS (β = −0.184; p ≤ 0.01). These findings suggest that the relative importance of organizational and individual factors varies based on the type of AI anxiety. Finally, Age has a significant and negative relationship with AIJRA (β = −0.121, P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: The Study’s findings underscore the importance of individual factors such as AISE in enhancing the role of POS on AILA. Furthermore, These findings suggest that the relative importance of organizational and individual factors varies based on the type of AI anxiety.