The resourceful academic: AI Literacy’s influence on service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior via work engagement and stress in academia

Background In the context of Malaysia’s rapidly digitalizing higher education sector, this study investigates the paradoxical role of AI literacy by examining its influence on Service-Oriented Organizational Citizenship Behavior (SO-OCB) through competing parallel mediating pathways of work stressors and work engagement. Methods A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed. Data were collected from 300 Malaysian academics and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4. Results The findings show that AI literacy has a strong negative relationship with work stressors and a strong positive relationship with work engagement. Both work stressors and work engagement significantly mediate the relationship between AI literacy and SO-OCB, confirming that the primary influence of AI literacy is indirect. Conclusion This study extends Conservation of Resources (COR) theory by establishing AI literacy as a critical personal resource in the digital era and offers practical insights for fostering a resilient academic workforce.