Profiles of Chatbot Users in the Workplace: A Person‐Centred Exploration of Differences in Psychological Ownership and Performance

The integration of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) chatbots into the workplace is reshaping how people engage with their tasks, eliciting doubts about user experience, professional identity, and performance. While much attention has been given to productivity concerns, less is known about how individual perceptions and attitudes toward chatbot use relate to psychological ownership of work. Building on theories of self-efficacy and technology acceptance, this study adopts a person-centred approach to explore how employees’ experiences with chatbot tools cluster into distinct profiles and how these relate to ownership and performance outcomes. Employing a cross-sectional survey design with convenience sampling, data were collected from 186 working adults who had used a chatbot for work in the past month. A latent profile analysis (LPA) based on perceptions of chatbot usability, usefulness, concerns, and occupational self-efficacy identified four user profiles: casual users, hesitant adopters, assured enthusiasts, and tech-averse sceptics. Results showed that psychological ownership was significantly higher in casual users and assured enthusiasts compared to the other two profiles. Assured enthusiasts also reported the highest ownership of chatbot-assisted work and performance, with significant differences from all other groups. While hesitant adopters had the second-highest integration of chatbots in their performance, their general performance remained lower, suggesting that frequent use may not translate into higher performance when coupled with low self-efficacy and ambivalence. This exploratory study contributes to emerging conversations on AI adoption in the workplace by emphasising the importance of psychological dimensions, pointing to the intersection between perceived utility and usefulness, emotional positioning, and professional identity. Understanding these user profiles can support organisations in tailoring training, communication, and policies to promote more meaningful and responsible integration of AI tools, fostering both individual well-being and organisational adaptability in the age of automation.