Entrepreneurial Team Flourishing Amidst AI Revolution: The Influence of AI Literacy on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being Through Efficacy and Anxiety

As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly permeates entrepreneurial ecosystems, understanding how technological literacy relates to entrepreneurial team well-being has become an urgent priority. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study examines the relationship between entrepreneurial teams’ AI literacy and team well-being (distinguishing between hedonic and eudaimonic well-being). Furthermore, it investigates the mediating roles of entrepreneurial team efficacy and collective AI anxiety. Data were collected from a survey of 271 entrepreneurial teams across four major economic zones in China. This study relies on team leaders as primary informants to report team-level perceptions. The results show that AI literacy is positively related to team hedonic well-being, but exhibits no significant direct relationship with team eudaimonic well-being. However, AI literacy is indirectly associated with entrepreneurial team well-being through two parallel pathways: entrepreneurial team efficacy and collective AI anxiety. The findings shed light on how technological literacy is linked to team mental health via the dual mechanisms of cognitive resource gain and emotional loss prevention. This study broadens our understanding of well-being at the entrepreneurial team level and offers insights into cultivating literacy, enhancing efficacy, and managing emotions to improve entrepreneurial team well-being.