The Moderating Effect of Family Cultural Capital on Students’ Learning Motivation and Academic Expectations in AI-Based Learning Environments

Against the backdrop of artificial intelligence (AI) being deeply integrated into education, how family cultural capital influences students' learning motivation and academic expectations has become a critical issue warranting close attention.Based on 398 valid questionnaires and measurement instruments developed from initial categories derived through grounded theory, this study conducts an empirical analysis focusing on three core constructs: family cultural capital (A1), learning motivation (A2), and academic expectations (A3).Following rigorous data cleaning and reliability-validity testing, descriptive statistics and factor-aggregation methods were applied to analyze items C1-C27 comprehensively.The results show that the overall level of family cultural capital is high (mean = 5.58), with internalized capital being most prominent, reflecting advantages in reading habits, time management, and self-regulated learning that can be transformed into educational benefits.Overall, learning motivation is at a medium-to-high level (mean = 5.18).Still, intrinsic motivation is relatively low, suggesting that students rely more on identified regulation and external incentives to sustain engagement.Academic expectations are moderate (mean = 5.25), with career and developmental expectations ranking highest and further-education expectations lowest, suggesting that students place greater emphasis on practical career development and competency accumulation than on mere degree advancement.Comprehensive analysis indicates that family cultural capital not only directly supports academic expectations but also indirectly shapes learning motivation-and thereby its influence on academic expectations-through two interrelated pathways: the internalization of resources and capabilities, and the externalization of motivation and goals.This forms a closed-loop mechanism of "capital-motivation-expectation."The study enriches the application of cultural capital theory in AIenhanced educational contexts.It provides actionable empirical evidence to inform family education guidance, school curriculum design, and educational policy-making.