AI anxiety attenuates the positive association between AI literacy and trust in AI¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2 · q3 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 The AI literacy × AI anxiety interaction predicting trust is negative and significant (β = −0.25, p < 0.001). → Peichen Hu 2026 q3 i? Simple slopes of literacy predicting trust fall from 0.76 at −1 SD anxiety to 0.25 at +1 SD, showing a diminished rather than absent return on literacy. → Peichen Hu 2026 (2)

Evidence¶

Peichen Hu 2026¶

Peichen Hu. (2026). Psychological predictors of continued ChatGPT use among university students: the roles of AI literacy, trust, and academic self-efficacy. Front. Psychol. 17:1900190. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1900190

q3 · i2 · associational · r2

Latent interaction specified with matched-pair product indicators in the SEM of 450 existing users; the printed interaction was "β for the interaction=− 0.25, p < 0.001". An LMS sensitivity check gave "standardized β =− 0.26, p < 0.001".

"AI anxiety moderated the AI literacy–trust association in this cross-sectional model (β for the interaction=− 0.25, p < 0.001), supporting H8."

Peichen Hu 2026 (2)¶

Peichen Hu. (2026). Psychological predictors of continued ChatGPT use among university students: the roles of AI literacy, trust, and academic self-efficacy. Front. Psychol. 17:1900190. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1900190

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Simple-slope probing at one SD below/above the mean of anxiety in the same model; the printed standardized slopes were "0.76 at one standard deviation below the mean, to 0.50 at the mean, to 0.25 at one standard deviation above". These are simple slopes, not a printed effect size, so no magnitude is coded.

"Simple-slope analysis showed that the positive association of literacy with trust weakened as anxiety rose, from 0.76 at one standard deviation below the mean, to 0.50 at the mean, to 0.25 at one standard deviation above (Figure3)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Affect Regulation — moderator: an instructional effect differs with it
• Academic Anxiety — moderator: an instructional effect differs with it

Related Claims¶

• AI literacy is directly and positively associated with continued ChatGPT use among existing users — related
• Perceived AI literacy moderates the direct path: the negative GenAI use–trust association is significant at low literacy and non-significant at high literacy — related