ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Mindfulness
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1652934
This article is part of the Research TopicApplications of Mindfulness in Media and Communication StudiesView all 16 articles
How Mindfulness Shapes AI Competence: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis of Mindfulness, AI Literacy and Behavioral Intention in Chinese Media Students
Provisionally accepted
- Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, China
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Artificial Intelligence literacy, defined as an individual's knowledge and ability to recognize, apply and evaluate artificial intelligence (AI), is a core element driving the evolution of digital society and technological innovation. In the media industry, which is being shaped by cutting-edge technologies, the urgent demand for "intelligent+" interdisciplinary talent has prompted higher education institutions to integrate AI literacy training into their professional talent development systems. In the practice of AI media education in universities, the curriculum system as an external enabling mechanism has been progressively refined. However, how to activate students' intention for adoption has become the key to overcoming the bottlenecks. Mindfulness, as a meta-cognitive psychological trait, has been confirmed to enhance individual's cognitive flexibility, self-regulation, and innovative capacity, thereby improving their technology literacy. However, the role and pathway of mindfulness in the formation of AI literacy among media students remain empirically untested. This study constructs the integrated model of "Mindfulness-AI Literacy-Technology Application ", based on the survey data from 588 media students in China, and uses SPSS and SmartPLS software to conduct structural equation modeling analysis. The results show that: (1) Mindfulness significantly and positively influences the dimensions of AI literacy, including acknowledgement of AI (AAI), AI ethics (AIE), and AI collaboration (AIC) , but has no significant relationship with AI self-efficacy (AIS); (2) Mindfulness has a significant direct positive impact on AI behavioral intention (AIBI); (3) AAI and AIC play a partial mediating role in the relationship between mindfulness and AIBI. The results confirm that mindfulness training is an effective internal pathway to enhance key dimensions of AI literacy (AAI, AIE, AIC) and increase students' intention to apply AI technologies (AIBI). Incorporating mindfulness interventions into the higher media education system and establishing a synergistic mechanism with teaching and practice is a critical strategy for improving students' AI literacy and technology application.
Keywords: mindfulness, AI literacy, AI behavioral intention (AIBI), Media students, Media education
Received: 24 Jun 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lan, Liu and Xia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Si hang Liu, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, China
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