Research Article

Psychological Needs and Cultural Contexts Shaping BlueCollar Workers’ Attitudes Toward AI at Work

Volume: 45 Number: 3 December 22, 2025
TR EN

Psychological Needs and Cultural Contexts Shaping BlueCollar Workers’ Attitudes Toward AI at Work

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between psychological needs, national cultural values, and optimism about artificial intelligence (AI) among blue-collar workers. Blue-collar workers face distinctive exposure to automation due to the routine and manual demands of their jobs, yet their perspectives remain underrepresented in research. Understanding how psychological needs shape their expectations is increasingly important as AI adoption accelerates across manufacturing, logistics, and service sectors, reshaping skill requirements and influencing workers’ perceived future opportunities. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 2,200 employees across 11 countries. The survey included indicators of competence, relatedness, and voice in workplace decision-making, with measures of optimism regarding AI’s impact on individual careers and industry. Cultural moderation was assessed using Hofstede’s individualism index. The results revealed differentiated psychological mechanisms across individual and collective domains of technological adaptation. Perceived competence was the strongest predictor of optimism about personal career prospects, while both competence and relatedness predicted optimism about AI’s broader industry impact. The positive association between relatedness and industry optimism was stronger in countries with lower individualism, suggesting that cultural orientations toward collectivism amplify the role of social connection in shaping expectations about sectoral change. Voice showed no significant relationship with optimism in either domain. These findings extend self-determination theory by demonstrating that competence and relatedness play distinct roles across the individual and collective domains of technological change, with cultural values moderating the influence of relatedness on industry-level optimism. The results provide cross-national evidence that motivational and cultural factors jointly shape blue-collar workers’ expectations about automation and AI.

Keywords

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Social Psychology

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

December 22, 2025

Submission Date

June 2, 2025

Acceptance Date

November 1, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 45 Number: 3

APA
Cook, E., & De Bassio, T. (2025). Psychological Needs and Cultural Contexts Shaping BlueCollar Workers’ Attitudes Toward AI at Work. Studies in Psychology, 45(3), 394-412. https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2025-1710485
AMA
1.Cook E, De Bassio T. Psychological Needs and Cultural Contexts Shaping BlueCollar Workers’ Attitudes Toward AI at Work. Studies in Psychology. 2025;45(3):394-412. doi:10.26650/SP2025-1710485
Chicago
Cook, Emily, and Tory De Bassio. 2025. “Psychological Needs and Cultural Contexts Shaping BlueCollar Workers’ Attitudes Toward AI at Work”. Studies in Psychology 45 (3): 394-412. https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2025-1710485.
EndNote
Cook E, De Bassio T (December 1, 2025) Psychological Needs and Cultural Contexts Shaping BlueCollar Workers’ Attitudes Toward AI at Work. Studies in Psychology 45 3 394–412.
IEEE
[1]E. Cook and T. De Bassio, “Psychological Needs and Cultural Contexts Shaping BlueCollar Workers’ Attitudes Toward AI at Work”, Studies in Psychology, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 394–412, Dec. 2025, doi: 10.26650/SP2025-1710485.
ISNAD
Cook, Emily - De Bassio, Tory. “Psychological Needs and Cultural Contexts Shaping BlueCollar Workers’ Attitudes Toward AI at Work”. Studies in Psychology 45/3 (December 1, 2025): 394-412. https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2025-1710485.
JAMA
1.Cook E, De Bassio T. Psychological Needs and Cultural Contexts Shaping BlueCollar Workers’ Attitudes Toward AI at Work. Studies in Psychology. 2025;45:394–412.
MLA
Cook, Emily, and Tory De Bassio. “Psychological Needs and Cultural Contexts Shaping BlueCollar Workers’ Attitudes Toward AI at Work”. Studies in Psychology, vol. 45, no. 3, Dec. 2025, pp. 394-12, doi:10.26650/SP2025-1710485.
Vancouver
1.Emily Cook, Tory De Bassio. Psychological Needs and Cultural Contexts Shaping BlueCollar Workers’ Attitudes Toward AI at Work. Studies in Psychology. 2025 Dec. 1;45(3):394-412. doi:10.26650/SP2025-1710485