An investigation of how and why wearing an object influences achievement of eudaemonia, a state of wellbeing and contentment arising from personal perception of living with social meaning and purpose.

The act of wearing any object has personal impact, as my elderly Dad experienced, becoming distressed and anxious when wearing a personal alarm.

My research aim was to facilitate insight, understanding and discussion of how and why object wearing affects emotions to enable it to become an essential, integrated aspect of any wearable’s design and experience.

To achieve this I explored and compared, from multiple perspectives, through interviews and a workshop, the experiences of wearing a personal alarm with that of jewellery.

Through my iterative investigation and qualitative analysis, a model and six dynamic, interactive parameters that influence why and how a worn object affects the emotional state of being emerged and identified that

o   object wearing is part of humans’ perpetual search for eudaemonia

o   the motivation that leads to willingly wearing an object has to come from the wearer

o   the perception of object wearing stigmatisation is subjective and not governed by logic.

o   dichotomously, amuletic object wearing can precipitate unresolvable emotional conflict.

o   personal preciousness through emotional embodiment of a worn object trumps aesthetics and monetary value.

This research received a Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre scholarship and the institution’s 2023 Alumni Research Prize.