ArticleScientific reports2026
The impact of AI anxiety on career decisions of college students.
Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Comparing Human Ability with Generative AI: Self-Evaluation, Appraisal, and Adaptive Professional Intelligence Among Journalism and Communication Students.Journal of Intelligence · 2026Article
- The impact of career adapt-abilities on AI anxiety among English majors: a dual perspective analysis based on core self-evaluations at the person- and variable-centered.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- AI anxiety and AI learning intention among Chinese university students: a protection motivation theory perspective.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Is employment anxiety among vocal music students associated with AI replacement concerns? The roles of AI anxiety and vocal-performance replacement perception.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- When AI threatens future careers: a dual-appraisal model of university students' career goal adjustment intentions.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- When AI threatens my future career: growth mindset and perceived employability in Chinese college students' career decision making anxiety.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Impact of AI Literacy on Well-Being Among Nursing Students-Mediating Roles of Empowerment and Anxiety: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR nursing · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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Abstract
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has reshaped the employment market, triggering widespread anxiety among college students about their future careers and posing a potential threat to their career decisions. Grounded in Career Construction Theory, this study investigated the impact mechanism of AI anxiety on career decisions among 315 Chinese college students, utilising a questionnaire survey and structural equation modeling (SEM). The analysis specifically examined the mediating role of career adaptability and the moderating role of self-efficacy. The results indicated that AI anxiety not only directly and negatively predicted career decisions but also exerted an adverse indirect effect by undermining career adaptability, with this mediating effect accounting for 63.35% of the total effect. However, the moderating effect of self-efficacy was insignificant, indicating limited buffering capacity. These findings suggest that higher education institutions should promote outcome-based education (OBE) reforms, enhance students' career adaptability by universalising AI literacy and career planning courses, and deepen industry-education integration. Such measures can help students make more confident and clear-sighted career decisions in the AI era.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.