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Cited by 76Digital literacy in educationArtificial Intelligence in EducationMotivation and Self-Concept in Sports

Perceived support and AI literacy: the mediating role of psychological needs satisfaction

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Shen, Yanyan, Cui, Wencheng·2024·Frontiers in Psychology
DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1415248PMC PMC11212795
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Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) exerts significant influence on both professional and personal spheres, underscoring the necessity for college students to have a fundamental understanding of AI. Guided by self-determination theory (SDT), this study explores the influence of psychological needs satisfaction on AI literacy among university students. A cross-sectional survey involving 445 university students from diverse academic backgrounds was conducted. The survey assessed the mediation effect of students’ psychological need satisfaction between two types of support—technical and teacher—and AI literacy. The results indicate that both support types positively influenced the fulfillment of autonomy and competence needs, which subsequently acted as mediators in enhancing AI literacy. However, the satisfaction of relatedness needs did not mediate the relationship between the types of support and AI literacy. Unexpectedly, no direct association was found between the two forms of support and AI literacy levels among students. The findings suggest that although technical and teacher support contribute to fulfilling specific psychological needs, only autonomy and competence needs are predictive of AI literacy. The lack of direct impact of support on AI literacy underscores the importance of addressing specific psychological needs through educational interventions. It is recommended that educators provide tailored support in AI education (AIEd) and that institutions develop specialized courses to enhance AI literacy.

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  • Institutional supports that foster competence and autonomy encourage students to engage critically with AI.

    “Similar conclusions were reached by Shen et al. (2024), who demonstrated that institutional supports that foster competence and autonomy encourage students to engage critically with AI, thereby enhancing both motivation and resilience.”

    From Understanding AI Literacy Among College Students: Voices from a Historically Black College and University (2026) · cites this paper as Shen et al., 2024

    The Discussion and conclusion (page unavailable) reports that teacher and technical support were associated with autonomy and competence needs, which mediated their relationship with students’ AI literacy. The Method describes AI literacy as including assessment and ethics, supporting the idea of critical engagement. But the study did not establish that support caused such engagement or demonstrate enhanced motivation and resilience; resilience is not addressed in the supplied or retrieved passages. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Shen, Y., & Cui, W.
Affiliations
  • Shaanxi Normal University (CN)
  • Minzu University of China (CN)
Corresponding author
Cui, Wencheng
ORCID
Shen, Yanyan
Venue
Frontiers in Psychology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2024-06-14
Volume
15
Pages
1415248-1415248
ISSN
1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1415248
PMC
PMC11212795
OpenAlex
W4399669034
Cited by
76
References
21
Citations by year
2026: 38 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 5
FWCI
20.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Digital literacy in education
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Artificial Intelligence in Education
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
Keywords
AI literacy, perceived support, psychological need satisfaction, self-determination theory, autonomy, competence, relatedness, technical support, teacher support, artificial intelligence in education, university students, mediation

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