Paper Type

ERF

Abstract

Cybersecurity governance increasingly relies on urgent compliance communication that encourages employees to use generative AI tools to manage workload pressure. While AI-assisted coping is typically assumed to reduce stress, little is known about how method control functions under high-accountability governance conditions. Drawing on the stress–strain–response framework and method-control theory, we examine how AI-assisted coping shapes strain and avoidance in cybersecurity compliance communication. Across two experiments (total N = 315), Experiment 1 employed a 2 × 2 design manipulating urgency (high vs. low) and method control (AI-assisted vs. self-managed). Results reveal that under high urgency, AI-assisted coping increases strain rather than buffering it. Experiment 2 shows that strain predicts avoidance, but this relationship is significant only for older cohorts and not for Gen Z. We introduce “AI Coping Backfire” as a boundary condition of method-control theory in high-accountability governance environments and demonstrate cohort-contingent stress translation in cybersecurity compliance contexts.

Paper Number

1321

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Aug 15th, 12:00 AM

AI Coping Backfire in Urgent Cybersecurity Governance Communication

Cybersecurity governance increasingly relies on urgent compliance communication that encourages employees to use generative AI tools to manage workload pressure. While AI-assisted coping is typically assumed to reduce stress, little is known about how method control functions under high-accountability governance conditions. Drawing on the stress–strain–response framework and method-control theory, we examine how AI-assisted coping shapes strain and avoidance in cybersecurity compliance communication. Across two experiments (total N = 315), Experiment 1 employed a 2 × 2 design manipulating urgency (high vs. low) and method control (AI-assisted vs. self-managed). Results reveal that under high urgency, AI-assisted coping increases strain rather than buffering it. Experiment 2 shows that strain predicts avoidance, but this relationship is significant only for older cohorts and not for Gen Z. We introduce “AI Coping Backfire” as a boundary condition of method-control theory in high-accountability governance environments and demonstrate cohort-contingent stress translation in cybersecurity compliance contexts.

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