{
  "abstract": "Introduction:: While the rapid advancement of AI technology is empowering design practice, it is also having a significant impact on the development of design innovation education. In the context of design education, how students' perceived “AI technological disruption awareness (AITDA)” influences their design innovation competence has become a critical issue. Existing research has largely focused on the negative effects of technological disruption, overlooking the complex psychological mechanisms that may be triggered within design learning environments.\n\nMethods: Drawing on regulatory focus theory (RFT), this study examines how students' AI technological disruption awareness (AITDA) is associated with their design innovation competence (DIC) through two parallel motivational pathways, promotion focus (ProF) and prevention focus (PreF), and whether AI critical thinking (AICT) moderates these pathways. A questionnaire survey was administered to 568 design students from Chinese universities, and the moderated dual-path model was tested with confirmatory factor analysis, hierarchical regression, and bootstrap-based mediation and moderated-mediation analyses.\n\nResults: The results show that AITDA was significantly positively associated with DIC, both directly and through the positive pathway of ProF, whereas it was simultaneously significantly negatively associated with DIC through the negative pathway of PreF; the two indirect pathways were comparable in magnitude and opposite in direction, resulting in a non-significant total indirect effect. AICT strengthened the positive AITDA–ProF association and unexpectedly strengthened rather than weakened the AITDA–PreF association; conditional indirect effects and the index of moderated mediation confirmed that the mediating effects of both ProF and PreF varied significantly as a function of AICT.\n\nConclusion: These findings deepen our understanding of the psychological mechanisms of design innovation under AITDA, highlight the core value of cultivating AICT in design education, and provide a theoretical foundation and practical insights for guiding students toward positive adaptation and innovation amid technological change. However, because the study is based on cross-sectional, self-report data collected at a single point in time, the results should be interpreted as associations rather than causal relationships; longitudinal and experimental designs are needed to establish causality.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "School of Art and Design, Nanjing Institute of Technology , ,",
    "School of Design, Fujian University of Technology , ,"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Xiang Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "JianJun Hou"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Tingyun Luo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jia Du"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Zilong Yuan"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bssexfbdxrvzk.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1883577",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13728854/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "bssexfbdxrvzk",
  "issns": [
    "1664-1078"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13728854",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2210|Design Education and Practice"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223018678",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13728854/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13728854",
  "pmid": "42979203",
  "published": "2026-10-20",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bssexfbdxrvzk.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T15:20:46Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13728854",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13728854"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-07T12:21:44Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13728854",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1883577"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [],
  "title": "The double-edged sword effect of AI technological disruption awareness on design innovation competence: the mediating role of regulatory focus and the moderating role of AI critical thinking",
  "title_text": "The double-edged sword effect of AI technological disruption awareness on design innovation competence: the mediating role of regulatory focus and the moderating role of AI critical thinking",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-07T12:21:44Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bssexfbdxrvzk",
  "venue": "Frontiers in psychology",
  "versions": []
}