Fear and Anxiety

Category: When Analytics Works

Even when analytics works properly, and even when it is being used with the best of intentions for obviously benign purposes, it may still have a negative impact. These effects have already been seen in biomedical analytics.

On the one hand, the result of the feedback might be fear and panic. For example, Mittelstadt (2019) reports, "John Owens and Alan Cribb argue that personal health devices such as the 'FitBit', which claim to help users live healthier lives by monitoring behaviour and feeding back information to promote healthy decisions, may instead expose users to risks of anxiety, stigma, and reinforcement of health inequalities."

Also, the constant exposure to analytics may create a sense of dependency in the user. "Nils-Frederic Wagner introduces the notion of 'patiency' as a correlate to user agency. Health-monitoring devices are often thought to persuade or nudge users paternalistically towards health-promoting behaviours, which would seem to undermine the user's agency and autonomy" (Ibid).

Learning analytics could have similar effects in education and schools. Constant measurement and feedback can produce 'test anxiety'. And exposure to such feedback may push the learner toward educational providers, even in cases where their support might not be needed.

Examples and Articles

Fitbit complaints and other anxiety-inducing tech
"A new study suggests such wearable tech can, in some cases, do just as much harm as good, with worrying potential impacts on patient mental-health." Direct Link

The Mental Health Pitfalls of Fitbits for Consumers
"You could be getting several (or many) notifications an hour, which can send you into stress overload. This can leave you feeling anxious, irritable and never getting to feel like your brain gets a rest." Direct Link

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