Artificial Intelligence Anxiety, Impostor Phenomenon, and Workplace Deviant Behavior Among Nurses: A Three Wave...

The widespread application of artificial intelligence technologies in healthcare has intensified nurses' perceptions of technological replacement and role uncertainty, making artificial intelligence anxiety an increasingly important occupational psychological risk factor. The impostor phenomenon may play a critical mediating role between anxiety and workplace deviant behavior; however, longitudinal evidence remains limited.

To examine the dynamic relationship between artificial intelligence anxiety and workplace deviant behavior among nurses, and to test the longitudinal mediating role of the impostor phenomenon.

A three wave longitudinal design was employed to conduct a 6-month longitudinal survey among 594 clinical nurses. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the longitudinal relationships among the study variables.

Across the three waves, artificial intelligence anxiety, impostor phenomenon, and workplace deviant behavior were significantly correlated. Longitudinal mediation analyses indicated that artificial intelligence anxiety had a significant direct effect on subsequent workplace deviant behavior and that the impostor phenomenon significantly mediated the relationship between artificial intelligence anxiety at T1 and workplace deviant behavior at T3.

Establishing routine monitoring and early-warning mechanisms for technology-related psychological stress, together with personalized support strategies that enhance perceived technological control and reinforce the core values of humanistic nursing care, may effectively reduce nurses' cognitive distortions and mitigate workplace deviant behavior.