Does AI anxiety erase gender gaps in AI attitudes?

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In 335 adults, women reported more AI anxiety and less positive AI adoption; high anxiety reduced the usual gender gap in attitudes.

Source

Gender differences in artificial intelligence: the role of artificial intelligence anxiety

Russo C, Romano L, Clemente D, et al. · Frontiers in psychology · 2025

doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1559457 Read the full paper ↗17 citationscc by

Study at a glance

Design: Cross-sectional — Online survey with MANOVA and gender×AI-anxiety moderation on attitudes
N: N=335 · Adults completing anonymous self-report measures
Population: Adult online questionnaire respondents (52.2% women; mean age ~30)
Outcome: AI anxiety, attitudes, use, and perceived knowledge; gender differences and moderation

Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.

What they did

Collected self-report AI anxiety, attitudes, use, and knowledge; tested multivariate gender differences and a moderation model.

What they found

Women higher anxiety / lower attitudes-use-knowledge; anxiety negatively predicted attitudes; interaction: low anxiety → women less positive than men; high anxiety → gaps less evident (“leveler”).

The limits

What it doesn't show

Causal anxiety reduction trials, or that biological sex is the only driver versus gendered experience/stereotypes.

Key terms

AI anxiety: Fear/unease about artificial intelligence technologies.
Positive attitudes toward AI: Favorable evaluations of AI usefulness/acceptability.
Gender digital gap: Unequal tech access, skills, or adoption by gender.
Moderation: Effect of gender on attitudes depends on anxiety level.
MANOVA: Multivariate test of group differences across outcomes.
Leveler: Authors’ claim that high anxiety shrinks gender attitude gaps.

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Who reported higher AI anxiety?

Common questions

335 adults.

Women vs men?

Higher anxiety; lower attitudes/use/knowledge.

Interaction?

High anxiety levels gender gaps.

Method?

Online survey + MANOVA/moderation.