Navigating Emotional Barriers and Cognitive Drivers in Mobile Learning Adoption Among Greek University Students

Mobile learning (m-learning) technologies are gaining popularity in universities but not uniformly across institutions because of cognitive, affective, and behavior obstacles. This research tested and applied an expansion of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with technostress (TECH) and resistance to change (RTC) as affective obstacles, as well as the core predictors of perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PE), and perceived risk (PR). By employing a cross-sectional survey of Greek university students (N = 608) and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), we tested direct and indirect impacts on behavioral intention (BI) to apply m-learning applications. The results affirm that PU and PE are direct predictors of BI, while PR has no direct impact on BI but acts indirectly through TECH and RTC. Mediation is partial in terms of PE and PU and indirect-only (complete) in terms of PR with respect to the impact of affective states on adoption. Multi-group comparisons found differences in terms of gender, age, confidence, and years of use but not frequency of use, implying that psychological and experiential characteristics have a greater impact on intention than habitual patterns. These results offer theory-driven and segment-specific guidelines for psychologically aware, user-focused m-learning adoption in higher education.