Psychological drivers of employee-ai collaboration and career sustainability: The role of trust, threat, and protean orientation

Abstract

This study examines how employees' perceptions of AI trust and AI threat shape their collaboration with AI and subsequent career sustainability, grounded in Protection Motivation Theory and Person–Environment Fit Theory. Using data collected from 532 employees through an online survey, the relationships among constructs were analyzed using PLS-SEM. Results reveal that trust in AI exerts a positive and significant influence on employee–AI collaboration, while threat perception indirectly affects collaboration through motivational pathways. Furthermore, protean career orientation positively moderates the link between AI trust and collaboration, indicating that self-directed career attitudes strengthen adaptive engagement with AI systems. These findings underscore that approach and avoidance motivation play distinct roles in shaping collaboration outcomes, which in turn enhance various facets of career sustainability. The study contributes to theory by integrating cognitive appraisal and motivation perspectives to explain human–AI dynamics and provides managerial implications for fostering effective AI integration and sustainable career development in the digital workplace.