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Cited by 82Innovative Human-Technology InteractionDigital Mental Health InterventionsMental Health via Writing

Beyond self-reflection: introducing the concept of rumination in personal informatics

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Eikey, Elizabeth Victoria, Caldeira, Clara Marques, Figueiredo, Mayara Costa, Chen, Yunan, Borelli, Jessica L., Mazmanian, Melissa, Zheng, Kai·2021·Personal and Ubiquitous Computing
DOI 10.1007/s00779-021-01573-w
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Abstract

Personal informatics tools can help users self-reflect on their experiences. When reflective thought occurs, it sometimes leads to negative thought and emotion cycles. To help explain these cycles, we draw from Psychology to introduce the concept of rumination—anxious, perseverative cognition focused on negative aspects of the self—as a result of engaging with personal data. Rumination is an important concept for the Human Computer Interaction community because it can negatively affect users’ well-being and lead to maladaptive use. Thus, preventing and mitigating rumination is beneficial. In this conceptual paper, we differentiate reflection from rumination. We also explain how self-tracking technologies may inadvertently lead to rumination and the implications this has for design. Our goal is to expand self-tracking research by discussing these negative cycles and encourage researchers to consider rumination when studying, designing, and promoting tools to prevent adverse unintended consequences among users.

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  • Thinking about one's past can lead to rumination, that is, perseverative cognition circling around negative events and emotions.

    “thinking about one's past does not necessarily have to be an enriching experience-as described in the previous section-but can also lead to rumination, that is, to perseverative cognition circling around negative events and emotions (Eikey et al., 2021).”

    From Understanding Autobiographical Memory in the Digital Age: The AMEDIA-Model (2024) · cites this paper as Eikey et al., 2021

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Eikey, E. V., Caldeira, C. M., Figueiredo, M. C., Chen, Y., Borelli, J. L., Mazmanian, M., & Zheng, K.
Affiliations
  • University of California San Diego (US)
  • University of California, Irvine (US)
Corresponding author
Eikey, Elizabeth Victoria
ORCID
Venue
Personal and Ubiquitous Computing
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2021-05-10
Volume
25
Issue
3
Pages
601-616
ISSN
  • 1617-4909 (ISSN-L)
  • 1617-4917
DOI
10.1007/s00779-021-01573-w
OpenAlex
W3161147834
Cited by
82
References
24
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 1
FWCI
5.16
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
Personal and Ubiquitous Computing (publishedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (DGE1255832)
  • Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (UL1 TR001414)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health via Writing
Keywords
rumination, self-reflection, personal informatics, self-tracking, user well-being, personal data

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