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Lucas Brandt, Psy.D., is a 2026 graduate of the Psy.D. Program in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University, New England

Dissertation Committee:

  • Kate Evarts, PsyD, Chairperson
  • Alex Brown, PhD
  • Amanda Rose Hitchings, PsyD

Keywords

wearables, embodiment, gamification, mind-body connection, phenomenological research

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

Wearable fitness technologies have become increasingly integrated into contemporary health and wellness culture, providing users with continuous access to physiological and behavioral data related to movement, sleep, stress, recovery, and overall health. Research has demonstrated that wearable devices can increase physical activity and support health behavior change (Ferguson et al., 2022; Koivisto & Hamari, 2019). Although less is known about how these technologies influence individuals’ lived experiences of their bodies. Understanding this relationship is particularly important given growing concerns regarding embodiment, self-surveillance, and the psychological effects of health-tracking technologies (Bergsland, 2017; Rapp, 2021). Drawing on theories of mind-body connection and embodiment, the current study explored, directly and indirectly, how wearable use influences users’ experiences of embodiment. Using a phenomenological methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 adult wearable users. Data were analyzed using systematic thematic analysis procedures by Braun and Clarke (2006) and Naeem et al. (2023) and interpreted through an abductive analytic process informed by the study’s conceptual framework. Findings revealed that wearable devices increased awareness of bodily processes by translating invisible physiological states into observable data, though increased awareness did not necessarily correspond with greater embodied presence. Participants described continuously negotiating between trusting wearable metrics and trusting their own embodied intuition, experiencing wearable data as both validating and invalidating depending on its perceived accuracy and relevance to lived experience. Wearables were also experienced as powerful motivational tools through reinforcement and gamification while simultaneously contributing to pressure, shame, compulsive monitoring, and self-criticism for some users. Participants further described wearable technologies as becoming integrated into identity, self-understanding, and everyday life, often relating to devices as collaborative, relational, or personified entities. Across interviews, participants expressed a dialectical view of wearable technology, describing wearables as simultaneously empowering and psychologically risky. A conceptual model emerged suggesting that wearable technologies influence embodiment through processes of interpretive authority and relational mediation. Findings suggest that wearable devices function not only as tracking tools but also as technologies through which individuals interpret, evaluate, and negotiate their relationships with their bodies. Implications for embodiment theory, clinical practice, wearable design, and future research are discussed. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

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ORCID iD: 0009-0006-6588-8268

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