IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v383y2025ics0277953625007981.html

Becoming a cognitive miser? Antecedents and consequences of addictive ChatGPT use

Author

Listed:
  • Deng, Zihao
  • Deng, Zhaohua

Abstract

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has significantly enhanced productivity across diverse domains, however, growing concerns persist regarding its addictive use and potential cognitive ramifications. This study employed dual-system theory to examine the cognitive-behavioral mechanisms underpinning addictive ChatGPT use, positioning self-construal as a key antecedent and cognitive miserliness as a critical consequence. We adopted a mixed-methods approach for both exploratory and confirmatory analysis. Three cross-sectional surveys revealed that heightened activity in the impulsive cognitive system was a significant predictor of addictive ChatGPT use. Moreover, a dysregulation between the impulsive and reflective cognitive systems exacerbated compulsive tendencies and facilitated cognitive miserliness. Self-construal also affected these effects: individuals with an independent orientation were more likely to rely on the impulsive cognitive system, while those with an interdependent orientation engaged the reflective cognitive system more frequently. Notably, the reflective cognitive system often failed to adequately inhibit addictive ChatGPT use. Qualitative insights supported these findings and offered a deeper understanding of users’ behavioral patterns. This study contributes to theoretical discourse on the adverse cognitive impact of GenAI use, and informs managers seeking to design interventions that promote healthier digital engagement.

Suggested Citation

  • Deng, Zihao & Deng, Zhaohua, 2025. "Becoming a cognitive miser? Antecedents and consequences of addictive ChatGPT use," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 383(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:383:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625007981
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118467
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625007981
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118467?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moss, Todd W. & Renko, Maija & Block, Emily & Meyskens, Moriah, 2018. "Funding the story of hybrid ventures: Crowdfunder lending preferences and linguistic hybridity," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 643-659.
    2. Lynch, John G, Jr & Marmorstein, Howard & Weigold, Michael F, 1988. "Choices from Sets Including Remembered Brands: Use of Recalled Attributes and Prior Overall Evaluations," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 15(2), pages 169-184, September.
    3. Zhou, Tao & Zhang, Chunlei, 2024. "Examining generative AI user addiction from a C-A-C perspective," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Mandel, Naomi, 2003. "Shifting Selves and Decision Making: The Effects of Self-Construal Priming on Consumer Risk-Taking," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(1), pages 30-40, June.
    5. Adam, Martin & Lins, Sebastian & Sunyaev, Ali & Benlian, Alexander, 2024. "The Contingent Effects of IS Certifications on the Trustworthiness of Websites," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 138917, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    6. Payne, John W. & Bettman, James R. & Luce, Mary Frances, 1996. "When Time Is Money: Decision Behavior under Opportunity-Cost Time Pressure," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 131-152, May.
    7. Yinlong Zhang & L. J. Shrum, 2009. "The Influence of Self-Construal on Impulsive Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(5), pages 838-850, October.
    8. Niu, Ben & Mvondo, Gustave Florentin Nkoulou, 2024. "I Am ChatGPT, the ultimate AI Chatbot! Investigating the determinants of users' loyalty and ethical usage concerns of ChatGPT," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    9. Naresh K. Malhotra & Sung S. Kim & Ashutosh Patil, 2006. "Common Method Variance in IS Research: A Comparison of Alternative Approaches and a Reanalysis of Past Research," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(12), pages 1865-1883, December.
    10. Patrick Mikalef & Kieran Conboy & Jenny Eriksson Lundström & Aleš Popovič, 2022. "Thinking responsibly about responsible AI and ‘the dark side’ of AI," European Journal of Information Systems, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 257-268, May.
    11. Thomson, Keela S. & Oppenheimer, Daniel M., 2016. "Investigating an alternate form of the cognitive reflection test," Judgment and Decision Making, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 99-113, January.
    12. Keela S. Thomson & Daniel M. Oppenheimer, 2016. "Investigating an alternate form of the cognitive reflection test," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 11(1), pages 99-113, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Martinovici, A., 2019. "Revealing attention - how eye movements predict brand choice and moment of choice," Other publications TiSEM 7dca38a5-9f78-4aee-bd81-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. Pizzetti, Marta & Chereau, Philippe & Soscia, Isabella & Teng, Fangyuan, 2023. "Attitudes and intentions toward masstige strategies: A cross-cultural study of French and Chinese consumers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    3. Zhang, Si-Qi & Li, Ming-Hui & Li, Yu-Chu & Rao, Li-Lin, 2025. "Effects of childhood environments on the discernment of health misinformation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 380(C).
    4. Singu, Hari Babu & Chakraborty, Debarun & Troise, Ciro & Camilleri, Mark Anthony & Bresciani, Stefano, 2026. "Responsible AI for trustworthy tourism: A framework for mitigating ambiguity and anxiety with generative AI," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    5. Sipos, Norbert & Lukovszki, Lívia & Rideg, András & Vörös, Zsófia, 2025. "Önreflexió, döntéshozatal és a vállalkozók affektív jólléte [Cognitive reflectiveness, decision-making, and entrepreneurs affective well-being]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(9), pages 976-991.
    6. repec:osf:socarx:x8efq_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Vieira, José Geraldo Vidal & Montibeller, Gilberto, 2026. "A survey-based priority elicitation protocol for community-based resource allocation decisions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 328(3), pages 925-937.
    8. Alt, Marius & Bruns, Hendrik & Della Valle, Nives, 2024. "The more the better? Synergies of prosocial interventions and effects on behavioural spillovers," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    9. Comerford, David A., 2025. "Cognitive reflection, arithmetic ability and financial literacy independently predict both inflation expectations and forecast accuracy," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 517-531.
    10. Bao, Leo & Gangadharan, Lata & Leister, C. Matthew, 2025. "Deterrence in networks," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 501-517.
    11. Mathieu Chevrier & Sébastien Massoni, 2026. "When Does Advisor Confidence Improve Decisions? Evidence from Human and Algorithmic Advice," GREDEG Working Papers 2026-09, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    12. Hochleitner, Anna & Tufano, Fabio & Facchini, Giovanni & Rueda, Valeria & Eberhardt, Markus, 2025. "How Tinted Are Your Glasses? Gender Views, Beliefs and Recommendations in Hiring," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 7/2025, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    13. Cameron Martel & Mohsen Mosleh & David G. Rand, 2021. "You’re Definitely Wrong, Maybe: Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 120-133.
    14. Zhou, Tao & Zhang, Chunlei, 2024. "Examining generative AI user addiction from a C-A-C perspective," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Fossen, Frank M. & Neyse, Levent & Schröder, Carsten, 2025. "Does Cognitive Reflection Relate to Preferences and Socioeconomic Outcomes?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 3(2), pages 303-343.
    16. Tom Buchanan & Rotem Perach & Deborah Husbands & Amber F Tout & Ekaterina Kostyuk & James Kempley & Laura Joyner, 2024. "Individual differences in sharing false political information on social media: Deliberate and accidental sharing, motivations and positive schizotypy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(6), pages 1-37, June.
    17. Wong, Jimmy & Lalwani, Ashok K. & Wang, Jessie J., 2022. "The interactive effect of power and self-construal on consumers’ preferences for brand-logo size," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 279-296.
    18. Brandts, Jordi & Busom, Isabel & Lopez-Mayan, Cristina, 2025. "Do giving voice and social information help in revising a misconception about rent–control?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    19. Estache, Antonio & Foucart, Renaud & Georgalos, Konstantinos, 2025. "Delegating decisions to a lottery can reduce preference for control," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    20. Lalwani, Ashok K. & Wang, Jessie J. & Silvera, David H., 2020. "How does cultural self-construal influence regulatory mode?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 368-377.
    21. Mariken van der Velden & Felicia Loecherbach, 2021. "Epistemic Overconfidence in Algorithmic News Selection," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(4), pages 182-197.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:383:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625007981. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.