The Influence of Explainable Artificial Intelligence and Mental Health Literacy on Professional Psychological Help-Seeking Behavior: The Mediating Role of Psychological Problem Cognition.

Approximately 970 million people worldwide suffer from mental disorders, yet over 60% do not seek professional help. Key barriers include low mental health literacy (MHL), insufficient awareness of psychological issues, and the overwhelming and non-transparent nature of information retrieval tools. Explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) can provide transparent and personalized feedback; however, its unique contribution to facilitating professional psychological help-seeking behavior remains unclear. Two randomized scenario-based experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 (n = 168) examined the effect of XAI on professional psychological help-seeking behavior. Experiment 2 (n = 178), utilizing a virtual simulation program based on AI search, tested the interaction between XAI and MHL and the mediating effect of psychological problem recognition. Both XAI and MHL significantly enhanced participants' psychological problem recognition and professional psychological help-seeking behavior. A significant interaction was observed; XAI had a stronger facilitative effect on psychological problem recognition and professional psychological help-seeking behavior, particularly among participants with lower MHL. Furthermore, psychological problem recognition mediated the effects of both XAI and MHL on professional psychological help-seeking behavior. XAI can compensate for low MHL by reshaping individuals' psychological problem recognition, thereby promoting the utilization of professional mental health services.