Paper Type
Complete
Paper Number
PACIS2026-2193
Description
Personal informatics (PI) increasingly supports emotional well-being through tools such as mood tracking, biofeedback, and reflective prompts. However, their effects remain inconsistent: some systems help users recognize and understand their emotions, while others inadvertently increase anxiety, rumination, or dependence. While prior research emphasizes emotion regulation, we argue that the precursor, emotional awareness, has been largely overlooked in Information Systems. Drawing on emotional awareness theory, this paper presents a theoretical review of information systems research to examine how PI systems shape users’ attention to emotions and clarity of emotions, two core components of emotional awareness. Through a systematic synthesis of PI studies, we theorize how system designs may condition emotional awareness and explain three divergent outcomes: self-understanding, self-regulating, and reason-seeking. Our findings show that PI systems do not merely digitalize existing emotional awareness processes but may reorder, bypass, or constrain them, sometimes resulting in maladaptive self-focused attention or dependence.
Recommended Citation
Himawan, Agustina; Wong, Randy; and Gardner, Lesley A., "How Personal Informatics Induces Emotional Awareness: Theoretical Review" (2026). PACIS 2026 Proceedings. 26.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2026/ishealthcare/ishealthcare/26
How Personal Informatics Induces Emotional Awareness: Theoretical Review
Personal informatics (PI) increasingly supports emotional well-being through tools such as mood tracking, biofeedback, and reflective prompts. However, their effects remain inconsistent: some systems help users recognize and understand their emotions, while others inadvertently increase anxiety, rumination, or dependence. While prior research emphasizes emotion regulation, we argue that the precursor, emotional awareness, has been largely overlooked in Information Systems. Drawing on emotional awareness theory, this paper presents a theoretical review of information systems research to examine how PI systems shape users’ attention to emotions and clarity of emotions, two core components of emotional awareness. Through a systematic synthesis of PI studies, we theorize how system designs may condition emotional awareness and explain three divergent outcomes: self-understanding, self-regulating, and reason-seeking. Our findings show that PI systems do not merely digitalize existing emotional awareness processes but may reorder, bypass, or constrain them, sometimes resulting in maladaptive self-focused attention or dependence.
Comments
14-Healthcare