{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T10:11:46Z","timestamp":1788775906644,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788739200000},"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>Introduction: In the context of AI becoming deeply embedded in professional environments, understanding how EAC drives employee innovative behavior (EIB) has become a critical issue in organizational psychology. Drawing on social cognitive theory (SCT) and complementarity theory, this study proposes an \u201cEnvironment-Cognition-Behavior\u201d framework to elucidate how employee\u2013AI collaboration (EAC) drives EIB, specifically by assessing the mediating effect of future work self-salience (FWS) and the moderating effect of core self-evaluation (CSE). Methods: A three-wave time-lagged questionnaire survey was employed, and 457 valid employee responses were collected via the Credamo platform. The moderated mediation model was tested using regression-based path analysis and bootstrapping procedures. Results: EAC significantly and positively predicted EIB. FWS significantly mediated this relationship. CSE moderated the effect of EAC on FWS, yielding a significant moderated mediation effect. Notably, among employees with low CSE, the indirect pathway from EAC to EIB via FWS was stronger. Discussion: These findings extend SCT by identifying a pattern of person\u2013environment interaction that is consistent with a compensatory interpretation in human\u2013AI collaboration contexts. They also clarify the cognitive mechanism and individual-level boundary condition underlying AI-enabled innovation and provide practical implications for differentiated AI management strategies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16091585","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T09:23:37Z","timestamp":1788773017000},"page":"1585","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["When Less Confidence Reaps More AI Benefits: A Compensatory Pattern Through Future Work Self-Salience"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Xiaobo","family":"Dong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"China Cooperative Research Institute, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu 233030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Yanlong","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Business Administration, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu 233030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Qi","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Business Administration, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu 233030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6282-7247","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhiyong","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Business Administration, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu 233030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.17705\/1jais.00859","article-title":"A knowledge management perspective of generative artificial intelligence","volume":"25","author":"Alavi","year":"2024","journal-title":"Journal of the Association for Information Systems"},{"key":"ref_2","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_3","unstructured":"Bandura, A. 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