Generative AI-related employment threat, AI optimism, and employment anxiety among domestic and international students at a Chinese university

The rapid diffusion of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the labor market, yet it remains unclear whether students’ appraisal of AI-driven employment threat translates into employment anxiety in similar ways across cultural groups. This study administered an online questionnaire to 1,595 domestic students (1,095) and international students (500) enrolled at Central South University. Perceived AI replacement threat, AI optimism, and employment anxiety were assessed with 13 five-point Likert ite…

By the Truvace deskOctober 21, 20262 min read1 sourcePeer-reviewedTRV-2026-2105· cite & verify

Generative AI-related employment threat, AI optimism, and employment anxiety among domestic and international students at a Chinese university — "Back to school: USACE engineer interns in Europe to mentor students on academic futures" by USACE Europe District is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/.

In brief

Researchers surveyed 1,095 domestic and 500 international students at Central South University using an online questionnaire. It measured perceived AI replacement threat, AI optimism and employment anxiety, and tested whether a three-factor structure held in both groups.

The results suggest that worry about AI-driven job loss is closely tied to career anxiety, and that this coupling differs by student population, which is relevant to how universities design career support. The design is cross-sectional, so the findings cannot establish causes, and the role of optimism is only tentatively interpreted.

Main points

The sample was 1,595 students: 1,095 domestic and 500 international, at one Chinese university.
Threat and anxiety were strongly associated (β = 0.764), while threat was only weakly associated with optimism (β = 0.133).
With threat included, optimism had a small negative association with anxiety (β = −0.152).
Metric invariance held, and partial scalar invariance was reached after the intercept of Q21 was freed.
The authors suggest targeted student support services for AI-related career concerns.

The problem

Students who see generative AI as a threat to their future jobs report markedly higher employment anxiety, and the link between threat and anxiety is stronger among international students than domestic ones.

The rundown

The questionnaire used 13 five-point Likert items covering perceived AI replacement threat, AI optimism and employment anxiety. Confirmatory factor analyses supported an acceptable three-factor structure in both groups, though the distinction between threat and anxiety stayed qualified because the two were substantially associated.

Supplementary measures covered information channels, coping behaviors, desired institutional support and perceived coping relief. The authors describe these coping analyses as descriptive and exploratory.

The indirect association through optimism was negative but limited in size. The authors interpret the pattern as an exploratory statistical finding compatible with suppression, not confirmed evidence of a directional psychological mechanism.