Explore the impact of postgraduate students’ AI literacy on research efficacy through the mediating effect of academic anxiety and campus atmosphere

With the increasingly widespread application of AI technology in the field of education, the AI literacy of learners has become a global focus. However, the specific pathways and mechanisms through which AI literacy influences the research efficacy of postgraduate students via organizational environment and individual psychological factors remain unclear. To fill this research gap, this study employed a mixed research method to conduct a questionnaire survey and text sentiment analysis on 517 postgraduate students, aiming to explore the impact of AI literacy on research efficacy and to examine the chain mediating role of campus atmosphere and academic anxiety. The results indicated that research efficacy was significantly positively correlated with AI literacy and campus atmosphere, and significantly negatively correlated with academic anxiety. The chain mediation analysis showed that the mediating effect value of campus atmosphere and academic anxiety was 0.553, accounting for 71.4% of the total effect. The fsQCA analysis based on the configurational perspective further identified four types of multiple influences on research efficacy, with an overall consistency of 0.9141 and an overall coverage of 0.8981. The text sentiment analysis revealed that 55.88% of postgraduate students held a positive attitude towards AI technology. This study elucidates the internal mechanism by which the AI literacy of postgraduate students affects research efficacy, providing theoretical support and practical references for universities to enhance the research capabilities of postgraduate students by creating a positive campus atmosphere and reducing academic anxiety.