With the increasing integration of technology in education, Artificial Intelligence (AI) language assessment tools have gained prominence as a potential solution for efficient and automated assessment. However, the acceptance and adoption of these tools by EFL learners are influenced by various psychological factors that need to be understood. This mixed-methods study aimed to explore the psychological factors that impede EFL learners' acceptance or adoption of AI language assessment tools. In the qualitative phase, the research utilized focus group discussions and written narrative accounts to gain a comprehensive understanding of participants' perspectives. The study involved 30 participants from different educational settings in Iran, including universities, language institutes, and schools. Participants were chosen through purposeful sampling. Then, they were divided into three groups for the online focus group discussions, and they also provided written accounts that offered detailed personal narratives about their experiences with AI language assessment tools. Through rigorous analysis of the findings, three broad psychological factors emerged as barriers to the acceptance or adoption of these tools, including perceptual factors, emotional factors, and contextual factors. In the quantitative phase, a ranking scale was used to assess the perceived significance of these barriers. These findings highlight the complex dynamics surrounding the integration of AI language assessment tools in EFL learning contexts and provide valuable insights and implications for educators, policymakers, and developers seeking to address these barriers and enhance the utilization of such tools in language assessment practices.