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Gender differences in artificial intelligence: the role of artificial intelligence anxiety
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Introduction: Artificial intelligence (AI) is having a significant impact on people's lives. Despite the benefits associated with this technological advancement, there may be gender-related inequalities in accessing and using AI systems. The present study aimed to test gender differences in factors likely to influence AI adoption, in particular, the moderating role of gender in the relationship between AI anxiety and positive attitudes toward AI. Method: Participants were 335 adults (52.2% women; mean age = 29.96, SD = 13.88) who filled in an online self-report anonymous questionnaire. To test the hypotheses, both a MANOVA and a moderation model were adopted. Results: Results revealed significant gender differences in AI adoption dimensions, with women reporting higher AI anxiety, lower positive attitudes toward AI, lower use of AI, and lower perceived knowledge of AI. A significant negative relationship was found between AI anxiety and positive attitudes toward AI. An interaction between gender and AI anxiety was found: At low levels of anxiety, women showed lower levels of positive attitudes toward AI than men, while at high levels of AI anxiety, gender differences were less evident. Discussion: These findings suggest that AI anxiety works as a “gender differences leveler.” The present study contributes to expanding knowledge about gender differences in technology, which will underpin practical interventions for reducing the gender digital gap. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.
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From Advancing Undergraduate Student Mental Healthcare of Social Anxiety Disorder: Evaluating the Acceptance of AR-Assisted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Through TAM-Based Constructs. (2026) · cites this paper as [121]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Russo, C., Romano, L., Clemente, D., Iacovone, L., Gladwin, T. E., & Panno, A.
- Affiliations
- European University of Rome (IT)
- University of Chieti-Pescara (IT)
- Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research and Education (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Russo, Claudia
- Panno, Angelo
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2025-05-06
- Volume
- 16
- Pages
- 1559457-1559457
- ISSN
- 1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC12089128
- OpenAlex
- W4410133492
- Cited by
- 126
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 94 · 2025: 32
- FWCI
- 227.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- 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)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Technology in Education
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Technology Adoption and User Behaviour
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Keywords
- AI anxiety, gender differences, attitudes toward AI, artificial intelligence adoption, technology acceptance, gender digital divide, moderating effect of gender
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