Beyond AI adoption: Psychological empowerment, work meaning, and employee well-being
Más allá de la adopción de la IA: empoderamiento psicológico, significado del trabajo y bienestar de los empleados
Mónica Lorena Sánchez Limon
,
David Josue Ortiz González
,
Julio César Castanon Rodríguez
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Suma de Negocios, 17(36), 74-84, enero-junio 2026, ISSN 2215-910X
https://doi.org/10.14349/sumneg/2026.V17.N36.A7
Received March 11, 2026
Accepted May 29, 2026
Online June 29, 2026
Introducción/objetivo: esta investigación analiza la inteligencia artificial (IA) y su relación con el bienestar de los empleados. Particularmente, examina el papel del significado e identidad del trabajo, la amenaza percibida al empleo y la intensificación del trabajo asociada con la IA, así como el papel mediador del empoderamiento psicológico en la respuesta de los trabajadores a esta tecnología.
Metodología: se adoptó un enfoque cuantitativo de corte transversal. La muestra fue de 507 empleados de seis países de habla inglesa, provenientes de la encuesta AI, Work & Human Identity desarrollado por el Human Clarity Institute (2025). Los datos fueron examinados mediante PLS-SEM para analizar las asociaciones entre las variables y los efectos de mediación.
Resultados: los hallazgos indican que el significado e identidad del trabajo, así como el empoderamiento psicológico ante el uso de IA, se relacionan de manera positiva y significativa con el bienestar de los empleados, mientras la amenaza percibida se relacionó de forma negativa con este. El empoderamiento psicológico media parcialmente la intensificación laboral con el bienestar, y entre la amenaza percibida y el bienestar. La intensificación de trabajo impulsada por IA no fue significativa.
Conclusiones: se sugiere que la IA y sus efectos sobre el bienestar laboral son selectivos y mediados por procesos psicológicos, ofreciendo una comprensión más profunda del bienestar en contextos laborales mediados por IA.
Palabras clave:
Inteligencia artificial,
empoderamiento psicológico,
intensidad de trabajo,
amenaza percibida,
identidad percibida,
bienestar laboral.
Introduction/Purpose: this study examines the associations between artificial intelligence use in workplace settings and employee well-being. It also considers work meaning and professional identity, perceived employment uncertainty linked to AI, and AI-related work demands, while addressing how psychological empowerment may influence employees’ reactions to these technological changes.
Methodology: a quantitative. Cross-sectional approach was adopted. The study included 507 employees from six English-speaking countries, based on the AI, Work & Human Identity 2025 dataset developed by Human Clarity Institute (2025). The proposed relationships were examined using PLS-SEM to analyse the associations amongst the study variables and the corresponding mediation effects.
Results: the findings indicate that work meaning and identity, together with psychological empowerment related to AI use, were positively linked to employee well-being, while perceived job threat was negative association with well-being, psychological empowerment presented a partial mediating effect between work meaning and identity and employee well-being.
Conclusions: the findings suggest that the relationship between AI and employee well-being is influenced by specific psychological mechanisms.
Keywords:
Artificial intelligence,
psychological empowerment,
AI-driven work intensification,
perceived threat,
work meaning and identity,
employee well-being.
JEL codes:
M12, M15, O33, J28.
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Instituciones
Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, México
Universidad Politécnica de Victoria, México
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