An Empirical Study on Factors influencing Users’ Psychological Reactance to Artificial Intelligence Applications

This study aims to examine factors influencing users’ psychological reactance to Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications. We defined and categorized psychological reactance into cognitive reactance and emotional reactance. Built on concepts and theories on technology readiness, technology acceptance model and privacy concerns, we developed a comprehensive model explaining factors influencing users’ cognitive and emotional reactance to AI applications. An online survey was used to collect data. The results of data analysis show that users’ insecurity, perceived usefulness, subjective norm and privacy concerns significantly affect their cognitive reactance; discomfort and privacy concerns significantly affect emotional reactance; and users’ psychological reactance significantly affects their attitude towards AI applications.