Perceived AI empowerment and threat in relation to university students' dependence on GenAI: the indirect role of trust in AI
朱 珂, Yuwen Ma, Jin Zhang, Jinhai Liu · Frontiers in Psychology · 2026
Introduction The widespread adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in higher education is transforming students' learning practices, yet the psychological factors and associational processes underlying students' dependence on GenAI remain poorly understood. Drawing on cognitive appraisal theory and trust theory, this study proposed a dual-appraisal model to examine how perceived AI empowerment and perceived AI threat are associated with university students' dependence on GenAI, both directly and indirectly through trust in AI. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 360 university students in China who had prior experience using GenAI. The measurement model and hypothesized structural relations were examined using SPSS 24.0 and Mplus 8.3. Indirect associations were evaluated using bootstrap confidence intervals based on 5,000 resamples. Results Perceived AI empowerment was positively associated with trust in AI and dependence on GenAI, whereas perceived AI threat was negatively associated with both variables. Trust in AI was positively associated with GenAI dependence and statistically accounted for part of the associations between both cognitive appraisals and dependence. Significant direct and indirect associations were observed in both appraisal pathways. Conclusion The findings support a dual-appraisal perspective on university students' dependence on GenAI, suggesting that perceived capability-enhancing benefits and perceived risks are associated with reliance on GenAI through distinct appraisal pathways involving trust. Students who perceived GenAI as more empowering tended to report greater trust and dependence, whereas those who perceived greater AI-related threat reported lower trust and dependence. Trust accounted for significant indirect associations between both forms of appraisal and GenAI dependence. These findings extend research on technology acceptance by highlighting trust as a potential psychological pathway linking students' appraisals of GenAI with their reported reliance on the technology.