Leader AI Symbolization, AI Threat Perception, and Employee Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Employee Openness

Grounded in the framework of the signaling theory, our research examined the relationship between leader AI symbolization and employee well-being. We used a questionnaire survey (<italic>N</italic> = 299) to test all hypotheses. The results show that leader AI symbolization is positively related to employee well-being via employee AI threat perception. Moreover, employee openness moderates this relationship such that the effect is stronger when employee openness is high (vs. low). Our findings offer novel insights into the communicative and emotional labor required of leaders in the AI era, advancing both theoretical understanding and practical strategies for leading technological change.