{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T05:18:28Z","timestamp":1787635108593,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]],"date-time":"2026-08-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787356800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behav. Sci.","Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Artificial intelligence (AI) can be appraised simultaneously as useful, capable, threatening, and demanding. Yet research typically treats attitudes toward AI as a single favorable-unfavorable continuum, obscuring how these evaluations coexist within individuals. Using a three-wave, time-lagged survey of 379 first-year university students in China, we examined configurations of six AI-related appraisal indicators: perceived humanlikeness, adaptability, and quality of AI; AI use anxiety; awareness of smart technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and algorithms (STARA) as a career threat; and AI creative self-efficacy. Latent profile analysis supported four profiles: Positive Empowerment (19.2%), Anxious Acceptance (37.5%), Low-Perception Detached (37.2%), and High-Perception High-Vigilance (6.1%). R3STEP models showed that learning agility, digital literacy, future work self salience, and perceived university digital support were prospectively associated with profile membership, particularly in distinguishing the Low-Perception Detached profile from the more engaged profiles. BCH comparisons further showed that the Positive Empowerment and High-Perception High-Vigilance profiles reported relatively high levels of both career crafting and self-perceived employability, whereas the Low-Perception Detached profile reported the lowest levels of both outcomes. Notably, the High-Perception High-Vigilance profile combined elevated AI use anxiety and STARA awareness with strong career-development engagement, while the Low-Perception Detached profile combined comparatively low threat perceptions with weak career crafting and employability. These findings demonstrate that higher AI-related threat was not necessarily associated with weaker career preparation and, conversely, that low perceived threat was not necessarily associated with greater adaptive readiness. Overall, the results position students\u2019 responses to AI as configurations of opportunity appraisal, threat, and AI creative self-efficacy rather than as uniformly positive or negative attitudes, thereby highlighting the need for differentiated university career education and AI-readiness interventions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16091460","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T08:03:41Z","timestamp":1787558621000},"page":"1460","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Beyond Positive or Negative: Latent Profiles of University Students\u2019 AI Attitude and Their Career-Development Correlates"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-2985-3529","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hongfeng","family":"Song","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anqi","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, No. 59 Zhongguancun Avenue, Haidian District, Beijing 100872, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xueyan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, No. 59 Zhongguancun Avenue, Haidian District, Beijing 100872, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"317","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02294359","article-title":"Factor analysis and AIC","volume":"52","author":"Akaike","year":"1987","journal-title":"Psychometrika"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"329","DOI":"10.1080\/10705511.2014.915181","article-title":"Auxiliary variables in mixture modeling: Three-step approaches using Mplus","volume":"21","author":"Asparouhov","year":"2014","journal-title":"Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"272","DOI":"10.1177\/0081175012470644","article-title":"Estimating the association between latent class membership and external variables using bias-adjusted three-step approaches","volume":"43","author":"Bakk","year":"2013","journal-title":"Sociological Methodology"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"273","DOI":"10.1037\/ocp0000056","article-title":"Job demands\u2013resources theory: Taking stock and looking forward","volume":"22","author":"Bakker","year":"2017","journal-title":"Journal of Occupational Health Psychology"},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control, W. H. Freeman."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"239","DOI":"10.1017\/jmo.2016.55","article-title":"Smart technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and algorithms (STARA): Employees\u2019 perceptions of our future workplace","volume":"24","author":"Brougham","year":"2018","journal-title":"Journal of Management & Organization"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"831","DOI":"10.1080\/03075079.2024.2333937","article-title":"ChatGPT adoption and anxiety: A cross-country analysis utilising the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT)","volume":"49","author":"Budhathoki","year":"2024","journal-title":"Studies in Higher Education"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"401","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-2909.115.3.401","article-title":"Relationship between attitudes and evaluative space: A critical review, with emphasis on the separability of positive and negative substrates","volume":"115","author":"Cacioppo","year":"1994","journal-title":"Psychological Bulletin"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1186\/s41239-023-00411-8","article-title":"Students\u2019 voices on generative AI: Perceptions, benefits, and challenges in higher education","volume":"20","author":"Chan","year":"2023","journal-title":"International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"258","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1754-9434.2012.01444.x","article-title":"Learning agility: In search of conceptual clarity and theoretical grounding","volume":"5","author":"DeRue","year":"2012","journal-title":"Industrial and Organizational Psychology"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103196","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jvb.2018.06.011","article-title":"Sustainable careers: Towards a conceptual model","volume":"117","author":"Akkermans","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Vocational Behavior"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114","DOI":"10.1037\/xge0000033","article-title":"Algorithm aversion: People erroneously avoid algorithms after seeing them err","volume":"144","author":"Dietvorst","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General"},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Eagly, A. H., and Chaiken, S. (1993). The psychology of attitudes, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"582","DOI":"10.1521\/soco.2007.25.5.582","article-title":"The advantages of an inclusive definition of attitude","volume":"25","author":"Eagly","year":"2007","journal-title":"Social Cognition"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"500","DOI":"10.1037\/0021-9010.71.3.500","article-title":"Perceived organizational support","volume":"71","author":"Eisenberger","year":"1986","journal-title":"Journal of Applied Psychology"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"864","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.114.4.864","article-title":"On seeing human: A three-factor theory of anthropomorphism","volume":"114","author":"Epley","year":"2007","journal-title":"Psychological Review"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"458","DOI":"10.1177\/0165025419881721","article-title":"Finding latent groups in observed data: A primer on latent profile analysis in Mplus for applied researchers","volume":"44","author":"Ferguson","year":"2020","journal-title":"International Journal of Behavioral Development"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"627","DOI":"10.5465\/annals.2018.0057","article-title":"Human trust in artificial intelligence: Review of empirical research","volume":"14","author":"Glikson","year":"2020","journal-title":"Academy of Management Annals"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"36","DOI":"10.1037\/1082-989X.11.1.36","article-title":"Local solutions in the estimation of growth mixture models","volume":"11","author":"Hipp","year":"2006","journal-title":"Psychological Methods"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/10705519909540118","article-title":"Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives","volume":"6","author":"Hu","year":"1999","journal-title":"Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101186","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chbr.2026.101186","article-title":"AI fatigue in human\u2013AI interaction: Conceptual framework, scale development and validation, and associations with AI engagement","volume":"23","author":"Lau","year":"2026","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior Reports"},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Lazarus, R. S., and Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping, Springer."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"717","DOI":"10.1177\/10690727211002565","article-title":"Development and validation of the Career Crafting Assessment (CCA)","volume":"29","author":"Lee","year":"2021","journal-title":"Journal of Career Assessment"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1006\/jvbe.1994.1027","article-title":"Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance","volume":"45","author":"Lent","year":"1994","journal-title":"Journal of Vocational Behavior"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"767","DOI":"10.1093\/biomet\/88.3.767","article-title":"Testing the number of components in a normal mixture","volume":"88","author":"Lo","year":"2001","journal-title":"Biometrika"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"469","DOI":"10.1016\/0022-1031(83)90023-9","article-title":"Protection motivation and self-efficacy: A revised theory of fear appeals and attitude change","volume":"19","author":"Maddux","year":"1983","journal-title":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12167","DOI":"10.1007\/s10639-023-12333-z","article-title":"Factors influencing students\u2019 intention to adopt and use ChatGPT in higher education: A study in the Vietnamese context","volume":"29","author":"Maheshwari","year":"2024","journal-title":"Education and Information Technologies"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"McLachlan, G. J., and Peel, D. (2000). Finite mixture models, Wiley.","DOI":"10.1002\/0471721182"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1002\/hrdq.21528","article-title":"Individual differences in learning agility at work: A mixed methods study to develop and validate a new scale","volume":"35","author":"Milani","year":"2024","journal-title":"Human Resource Development Quarterly"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"115","DOI":"10.1002\/j.1556-6676.1999.tb02431.x","article-title":"Planned happenstance: Constructing unexpected career opportunities","volume":"77","author":"Mitchell","year":"1999","journal-title":"Journal of Counseling & Development"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1080\/10705511.2014.919825","article-title":"Disentangling shape from level effects in person-centered analyses: An illustration based on university teachers\u2019 multidimensional profiles of effectiveness","volume":"22","author":"Morin","year":"2015","journal-title":"Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal"},{"key":"ref_32","first-page":"100041","article-title":"Conceptualizing AI literacy: An exploratory review","volume":"2","author":"Ng","year":"2021","journal-title":"Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1065","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compedu.2012.04.016","article-title":"Can we teach digital natives digital literacy?","volume":"59","author":"Ng","year":"2012","journal-title":"Computers & Education"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"535","DOI":"10.1080\/10705510701575396","article-title":"Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: A Monte Carlo simulation study","volume":"14","author":"Nylund","year":"2007","journal-title":"Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"68","DOI":"10.1080\/00223980.2021.2012109","article-title":"Who likes artificial intelligence? Personality predictors of attitudes toward artificial intelligence","volume":"156","author":"Park","year":"2022","journal-title":"The Journal of Psychology"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"920","DOI":"10.1111\/joop.12502","article-title":"Attitudes towards artificial intelligence at work: Scale development and validation","volume":"97","author":"Park","year":"2024","journal-title":"Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"827","DOI":"10.1177\/0149206310363732","article-title":"Making things happen: A model of proactive motivation","volume":"36","author":"Parker","year":"2010","journal-title":"Journal of Management"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"879","DOI":"10.1037\/0021-9010.88.5.879","article-title":"Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies","volume":"88","author":"Podsakoff","year":"2003","journal-title":"Journal of Applied Psychology"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"192","DOI":"10.5465\/amr.2018.0072","article-title":"Artificial intelligence and management: The automation\u2013augmentation paradox","volume":"46","author":"Raisch","year":"2021","journal-title":"Academy of Management Review"},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jvb.2007.12.001","article-title":"Self-perceived employability: Construction and initial validation of a scale for university students","volume":"73","author":"Rothwell","year":"2008","journal-title":"Journal of Vocational Behavior"},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"Brown, S. D., and Lent, R. W. (2013). Career construction theory and practice. Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work, Wiley. [2nd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"239","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jvb.2009.04.004","article-title":"Life designing: A paradigm for career construction in the 21st century","volume":"75","author":"Savickas","year":"2009","journal-title":"Journal of Vocational Behavior"},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100014","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chbr.2020.100014","article-title":"Initial validation of the general attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence Scale","volume":"1","author":"Schepman","year":"2020","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior Reports"},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"461","DOI":"10.1214\/aos\/1176344136","article-title":"Estimating the dimension of a model","volume":"6","author":"Schwarz","year":"1978","journal-title":"The Annals of Statistics"},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"333","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02294360","article-title":"Application of model-selection criteria to some problems in multivariate analysis","volume":"52","author":"Sclove","year":"1987","journal-title":"Psychometrika"},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103445","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jvb.2020.103445","article-title":"Latent profile analysis: A review and \u201chow to\u201d guide of its application within vocational behavior research","volume":"120","author":"Spurk","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Vocational Behavior"},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"580","DOI":"10.1037\/a0026423","article-title":"Future work selves: How salient hoped-for identities motivate proactive career behaviors","volume":"97","author":"Strauss","year":"2012","journal-title":"Journal of Applied Psychology"},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"223","DOI":"10.1007\/s10755-023-09686-1","article-title":"Students\u2019 acceptance of ChatGPT in higher education: An extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology","volume":"49","author":"Strzelecki","year":"2024","journal-title":"Innovative Higher Education"},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"225","DOI":"10.1080\/13639080.2010.547846","article-title":"Learning career management skills in Europe: A critical review","volume":"25","author":"Sultana","year":"2012","journal-title":"Journal of Education and Work"},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1137","DOI":"10.2307\/3069429","article-title":"Creative self-efficacy: Its potential antecedents and relationship to creative performance","volume":"45","author":"Tierney","year":"2002","journal-title":"Academy of Management Journal"},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hedge, J. W., and Carter, G. W. (2020). Job and career crafting to fulfill individual career pathways. Career pathways: From school to retirement, Oxford University Press.","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780190907785.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"450","DOI":"10.1093\/pan\/mpq025","article-title":"Latent class modeling with covariates: Two improved three-step approaches","volume":"18","author":"Vermunt","year":"2010","journal-title":"Political Analysis"},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"619","DOI":"10.1080\/10494820.2019.1674887","article-title":"Development and validation of an artificial intelligence anxiety scale: An initial application in predicting motivated learning behavior","volume":"30","author":"Wang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Interactive Learning Environments"},{"key":"ref_54","first-page":"3199","article-title":"University students\u2019 attitudes toward ChatGPT profiles and their relation to ChatGPT intentions","volume":"41","author":"Zhang","year":"2025","journal-title":"International Journal of Human\u2013Computer Interaction"}],"container-title":["Behavioral Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-328X\/16\/9\/1460\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T04:20:49Z","timestamp":1787631649000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-328X\/16\/9\/1460"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]]},"references-count":54,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9]]}},"alternative-id":["bs16091460"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/bs16091460","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-328X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-328X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]]}}}