Mediating Role Of Sustainable Representative Participation In The Relationship Between AI Behavioural Intention And Employee Satisfaction: Evidence From Nigerian Financial Institutions

This study examines the mediating mechanism through which employees' behavioural intention to use artificial intelligence (AI) influences job satisfaction, focusing on the role of sustainable representative participation as a critical organizational process. Drawing on data from 347 employees in commercial banks and insurance firms in Abuja, Nigeria, the research employs partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to test four hypotheses derived from the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework. The findings reveal that behavioural intention to use AI has a significant negative direct effect on job satisfaction (β = -0.38, p = 0.003) yet simultaneously demonstrates a positive effect on sustainable representative participation (β = 0.43, p < 0.001). Sustainable representative participation, in turn, strongly predicts employee satisfaction (β = 0.64, p < 0.001). The indirect effect through participation is positive and significant (β = 0.28, p < 0.001), fully offsetting the negative direct effect such that the total effect becomes non-significant (β = -0.11, p = 0.25). The model explains 52.1% of the variance in employee satisfaction. These findings extend the TOE framework by demonstrating that participative social structures serve as essential complements to technological innovation, transforming potential disruption into workforce well-being. The study provides practical guidance for financial institutions in emerging economies regarding the imperative of embedding sustainable representative participation alongside AI adoption initiatives.