The suppressing effect of AI dependency in the workplace: Can frequent use of AI enhance practitioners' job self‐efficacy?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a primary channel through which employees access information and solve problems at work. Drawing on media dependency theory, we theorize that workplace AI use exerts a suppressing effect on practitioners' job self‐efficacy in task‐focused achievement...

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Publicado en:Applied Psychology: An International Review Vol. 75; no. 4; pp. 1 - 25
Autores principales: Ye, Suyang, Jiang, Sanjun, Li, Shuwen
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Aug2026
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Aug2026
      vid: 75
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      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
      place: Malden, Massachusetts
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        atl: The suppressing effect of AI dependency in the workplace: Can frequent use of AI enhance practitioners' job self‐efficacy?
      aug:
        au:
          Ye, Suyang
          Jiang, Sanjun
          Li, Shuwen
        affil: School of Future Communication, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, China
      sug:
        subj:
          Artificial Intelligence Utilization
          Work Environment
          Self-Efficacy
          Dependency (Psychology)
          Employees Psychosocial Factors
          Students, Undergraduate Psychosocial Factors
          Human
          Achievement
          Task Performance and Analysis
          Employment
          Job Performance
          Work Engagement
          Confidence
          Feedback
          China
          Funding Source
          Professional Competence
          Models, Theoretical
          Students, College
          Colleges and Universities
          Male
          Female
          Adult
          Descriptive Statistics
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a primary channel through which employees access information and solve problems at work. Drawing on media dependency theory, we theorize that workplace AI use exerts a suppressing effect on practitioners' job self‐efficacy in task‐focused achievement contexts. Specifically, AI use can directly bolster job self‐efficacy by facilitating task accomplishment. At the same time, frequent AI use may foster AI dependency, reducing employees' engagement in competence‐relevant cognitive work and, in turn, weakening mastery‐based confidence. Across a multi‐source, time‐lagged field study and a scenario experiment, results support this competing‐process account: workplace AI use showed a positive direct association with job self‐efficacy, whereas AI dependency carried a negative indirect effect, yielding a significant suppressing effect. We further identify proactive feedback to AI as a key boundary condition that attenuates the negative effect of AI dependency on job self‐efficacy and renders the suppressing effect nonsignificant at higher levels of feedback. This research clarifies how organizations can leverage AI for performance gains while safeguarding employees' perceived capability.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
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      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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