ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Media Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1669247
This article is part of the Research TopicReimagining roles and identity in the era of human - AI collaborationView all 5 articles
The Impact of AI Literacy on Work–Life Balance and Job Satisfaction Among University Faculty: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective
Provisionally accepted
Ling Huang1*
Yuping Zhao2*- 1Yunnan University, Kunming, China
- 2Communication University of China, Beijing, China
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The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the nature of academic work, yet the role of AI literacy in supporting faculty well-being remains underexplored. This study examines how AI literacy affects university faculty's work–life balance and job satisfaction by fulfilling three basic psychological needs: perceived autonomy, perceived competence, and perceived relatedness. Drawing on survey data from 511 faculty members, the findings demonstrate that AI literacy significantly enhances the satisfaction of these psychological needs, which in turn promotes greater work–life balance. Further analysis reveals that only perceived autonomy directly predicts job satisfaction, while perceived competence and relatedness influence it indirectly through work–life balance. Moreover, technology acceptance moderates the relationship between AI literacy and psychological need fulfillment. These findings illuminate the psychological pathways through which AI literacy contributes to faculty well-being, extend the application of Self-Determination Theory to technology-intensive academic settings, and offer practical implications for designing AI literacy initiatives and faculty support strategies in higher education.
Keywords: AI literacy, University faculty, self-determination theory, work–life balance, Job Satisfaction, technology acceptance
Received: 19 Jul 2025; Accepted: 20 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Huang and Zhao. 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:
Ling Huang, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
Yuping Zhao, Communication University of China, Beijing, China
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