Raw data.

This study explains Chinese public acceptance of autonomous driving (n = 412) through subjective norms, personal norms, and psychological empowerment (cognitive, emotional, behavioral). Using covariance-based SEM with bootstrapped mediation, we find behavioral empowerment has the strongest direct effect on acceptance (≈2 × cognitive; ≈ 3.2 × emotional). All three empowerment dimensions partially mediate both subjective- and personal-norm paths, with behavioral mediation (≈46–50%) dominating. Importance–Performance Analysis highlights behavioral empowerment as high-importance/high-performance, while cognitive empowerment shows headroom for improvement. A Bayesian network confirms predictive validity with low overall error. Findings suggest design and policy should primarily strengthen users’ behavioral empowerment (capability, controllability, tangible benefits), while complementing cognitive and emotional pathways. We also discuss China-specific “top-down” cultural mechanisms that amplify subjective norms and outline implications for cross-cultural generalization.