Mindfulness and artificial intelligence self-efficacy among university students: the mediating role of artificial...

University students now use artificial intelligence (AI) tools in several academic activities, including information retrieval, writing support, and problem-solving. While these technologies may enhance learning efficiency, effective student engagement with AI requires relevant psychological characteristics as well as technology-related competencies. Earlier studies indicate that learner characteristics, including mindfulness, may relate to patterns of engagement with digital technologies. Mindfulness, AI literacy, and AI self-efficacy have been studied separately, but their combined relationships remain insufficiently examined. Accordingly, this study examined the associations among these three variables in university students and assessed whether specific dimensions of AI literacy were involved in the statistical association between mindfulness and students' self-rated readiness to use AI-supported tools for academic purposes. The study used a cross-sectional survey design. Undergraduate students at Shandong Xiehe University in China completed an online questionnaire. After screening the responses, 929 valid questionnaires were retained for analysis. Participants were between 18 and 22 years of age. Mindfulness, AI literacy, and AI self-efficacy were assessed using established self-report scales. The analysis first summarized the main study variables using descriptive statistics. Bivariate relationships among mindfulness, AI literacy, and AI self-efficacy were examined using Pearson correlation analysis. PROCESS Model 4 was applied with 5,000 bootstrap resamples to test the proposed indirect-association model. The results indicated positive relationships between mindfulness, AI literacy, and AI self-efficacy. Regression analyses also indicated that mindfulness showed significant relationships with each AI literacy dimension, namely AI awareness, AI usage, AI evaluation, and AI ethics. Mindfulness showed significant positive associations on multiple dimensions of AI self-efficacy. The mediation analyses identified AI literacy represented a significant indirect pathway linking mindfulness with AI self-efficacy. Specifically, the dimensions of AI awareness, AI usage, and AI evaluation showed significant indirect effects, AI ethics did not show consistent indirect effects across the tested models. The findings show that mindfulness was positively associated with AI literacy and AI self-efficacy among university students. They also suggest that students reporting higher AI literacy also reported greater perceived capability in using AI-supported tools, indicating that technological understanding may be statistically related to the association between mindfulness and perceived competence. The results show links between psychological awareness, AI literacy, and students' engagement with AI tools in higher education. The results may inform the development of AI literacy initiatives in higher education that support students' informed, insightful, and confident use of AI tools in academic contexts.