AI anxiety is negatively associated with academic motivation among university students, in both bivariate and regression analyses¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2 · q2 · i1 small
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i1 AI anxiety correlates negatively with academic motivation (r = −0.175). → Zhang Y 2026 q2 i? AI anxiety retains a significant negative association with academic motivation in the total-effect regression (B = −0.177) and after emotion regulation is included (B = −0.101). → Zhang Y 2026 (2)

Evidence¶

Zhang Y 2026¶

Zhang Y, Shi Y and Lu J (2026). The relationship between AI anxiety and academic motivation among university students: the mediating role of emotion regulation and the moderating role of gender. Front. Psychol. 17:1918525. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1918525

q2 · i1 · associational · r2

Bivariate Pearson correlation analysis of the cross-sectional survey of 1,484 Chinese university students (Table 1). The study reports that AI anxiety was negatively correlated with academic motivation (r = −0.175, p < 0.001).

"AI anxiety was negatively correlated with both emotion regulation (r = −0.172, p < 0.001) and academic motivation (r = −0.175, p < 0.001), whereas emotion regulation was positively correlated with academic motivation (r = 0.457, p < 0.001)."

Zhang Y 2026 (2)¶

Zhang Y, Shi Y and Lu J (2026). The relationship between AI anxiety and academic motivation among university students: the mediating role of emotion regulation and the moderating role of gender. Front. Psychol. 17:1918525. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1918525

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Regression analysis from the mediation models (Table 2), controlling for daily AI use duration. The total-effect model showed a significant negative association between AI anxiety and academic motivation (B = −0.177, p < 0.001); the direct association remained negative with emotion regulation in the model (B = −0.101). No standardized effect size is printed for this regression finding.

"The total-effect model similarly showed a significant negative association between AI anxiety and academic motivation [ B = −0.177, SE = 0.026, 95% CI ( −0.227, −0.127), p < 0.001]."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Academic Anxiety — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• AI anxiety is negatively associated with emotion regulation among university students — related
• Emotion regulation is positively associated with academic motivation among university students — related
• Emotion regulation partially mediates the negative association between AI anxiety and academic motivation — related
• Daily AI use duration shows a weak positive correlation with academic motivation among university students — related
• The indirect association between AI anxiety and academic motivation through emotion regulation is significant for both male and female students but stronger among male students — related
• Gender moderates the association between emotion regulation and academic motivation, with a stronger positive association among male students — related