ChatGPT and student well-being: The cultural bridge of Mianzi

Abstract

Higher education students are increasingly utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) applications such as ChatGPT for their school activities. Despite the increased adoption of such AI applications and continued concerns about how AI affects student learning, less is known about how these AI applications can affect the well-being of these students through a cultural lens. This understanding becomes particularly important in higher education settings where culturally embedded social values remain salient. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response theory and through a multidisciplinary synthesis of the literature on AI, service quality, culture and higher education, this study examines how the service performance of ChatGPT can affect the subjective well-being of students through Mianzi or face value. Results of the data collected from 128 higher education students, primarily from China and Singapore, show that Mianzi mediates the relationship between ChatGPT service quality and students’ subjective well-being. This study contributes to the literature on AI in education by identifying a culturally grounded mechanism linking AI service experiences and student well-being within this higher education Mianzi-relevant context. We offer insights that contribute to tropical higher education futures and advance the literature on student well-being through cultural systems prevalent in international higher education in the tropics.