Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
12-2025
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9876-1831
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Andrew Lumpe
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Misty Resendez Woods
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
James Prather
Abstract
Higher education institutions are navigating the benefits and challenges of generative AI chatbot use and preparing faculty and students to engage with these tools ethically and responsibly. The problem is that there are many challenges and barriers to using these technologies in higher education, and Christian higher education institutions must also address context-specific considerations regarding mission and vision rooted in biblical faith and practice. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study using confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression through structural equation modeling was to examine faculty perceptions of AI chatbots and how Christian religiosity moderates acceptance. An online survey was distributed and administered to faculty at Church of Christ universities. The sample size included 212 faculty from six universities. The theoretical framework for this study is the artificial intelligence device use and acceptance model adapted with the Faith Maturity Scale. The data and structural equation model were analyzed using SPSS and Julius.ai. It was found that performance expectancy through cognitive attitude (b = 0.766, p = .000) was the strongest pathway to chatbot acceptance, while effort expectancy through cognitive attitude (b = 0.255, p = .000) and affective attitudes (b = 0.277, p = .000) also positively predicted acceptance. Horizontal religiousness significantly dampened the effect of cognitive attitude on chatbot acceptance (b = -0.136; p = .049). Administrators at Church of Christ universities should develop policies, guidance, and training that address the impacts of performance and effort expectancy and cognitive and affective attitudes on the chatbot acceptance. They should also address the impact of horizontal religiousness on cognitive attitudes toward AI chatbot acceptance.
Keywords: AIDUA, artificial intelligence device use acceptance model, AI chatbots, Christian religiosity, faith maturity, higher education
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Gutierrez, Amos, "Exploring the Role of Christian Religiosity in the Acceptance or Rejection of AI Chatbot Use Among Faculty at Church of Christ Universities" (2025). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 978.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/978
Included in
Educational Technology Commons, Religious Education Commons, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons