The Impact of Artificial Intelligence Use on Students’ Innovative Behavior and Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Digital Literacy and the Moderating Role of Happiness
Keywords:
artificial intelligence, innovative behavior, student well-being, digital literacy, happinessAbstract
Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of artificial intelligence use on students’ innovative behavior and well-being through the mediating role of digital literacy and the moderating role of happiness.
Methods and Materials: This study was applied research in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of methodology. The statistical population consisted of all male and female lower and upper secondary school students in Langarud during the 2025–2026 academic year. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan table, 367 students were selected through stratified random sampling. Data collection instruments included the Innovative Behavior Questionnaire by Ng and Lucianetti (2016), Student Well-Being Questionnaire by Zheng et al. (2015), Artificial Intelligence Use Questionnaire by Long and Magerko (2020), Digital Literacy Questionnaire by Ibrahim et al. (2024), and the Happiness Questionnaire by Hills and Argyle (2002). Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, and structural equation modeling (SEM) through SmartPLS software at a 95% confidence level.
Finding: The results indicated that artificial intelligence use had a positive and significant effect on innovative behavior (β = 0.357, t = 6.165), digital literacy (β = 0.541, t = 14.222), and student well-being (β = 0.387, t = 6.984). In addition, digital literacy positively and significantly affected innovative behavior (β = 0.245, t = 4.786) and student well-being (β = 0.301, t = 5.339). The findings further demonstrated that digital literacy mediated the relationship between artificial intelligence use and both innovative behavior and student well-being. Moreover, happiness significantly moderated the relationship between artificial intelligence use and innovative behavior (β = 0.113, t = 2.298), indicating that higher levels of happiness strengthened the positive effect of artificial intelligence use on innovative behavior.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that artificial intelligence use can improve students’ innovative behavior and well-being when accompanied by higher levels of digital literacy and happiness. Digital literacy plays a crucial role in facilitating the positive outcomes of AI-based educational environments, while happiness strengthens students’ innovative responses to technology use.
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