Case & Working Paper
| Paper Number | KCB-WP-2026-006 |
|---|---|
| Title | The Erosion of Human Agency: How Human-Centric Control Attenuates the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Fear of Obsolescence and Generalized Anxiety Symptoms |
| Title(Other) | |
| Author | Byung-Jik Kim ; Tae-Hyun Kim |
| Publisher | |
| Abstract | The exponential integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within contemporary organizations generates a fundamental tension between machine autonomy and human agency. Grounded in the agentic perspective of social cognitive theory, this study investigates how AI adoption in an organization operates as an environmental determinant, predicting generalized anxiety symptoms through the existential fear of obsolescence. Furthermore, we examine perceived human-centric algorithmic control as a structural boundary condition that restores human intentionality and effectively buffers this trajectory. Utilizing a three-wave time-lagged research design, we collected and analyzed data from 371 full-time employees in South Korea. Structural equation modeling and moderated mediation analyses revealed that the fear of obsolescence partially mediates the positive relationship between artificial intelligence adoption and generalized anxiety symptoms. This confirms that objective technological integration is associated with a significant failure of affective self-regulation primarily through the subjective appraisal of ontological substitution, while also exerting a direct psychological toll. Notably, perceived human-centric algorithmic control significantly moderated this indirect pathway. For employees perceiving high structural authority to monitor and override algorithms, the trajectory toward elevated anxiety symptoms was effectively attenuated. |
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Contact : Kim, HaengRan ( hrkim@business.kaist.ac.kr )
