If inte­ro­cep­tion is cul­tur­ally learned rather than bio­log­i­cally uni­ver­sal, how should we design for this variability?

Interoception—the per­cep­tion of inter­nal bodily states such as heart­beat, hunger, and emotion—is foun­da­tional to well-being. Despite its sig­nif­i­cance in well­ness tech­nolo­gies within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), exist­ing designs often impose a uni­ver­sal­ized model of bodily aware­ness, shaped by Western-centric assump­tions, and over­look cul­tural vari­abil­ity. This paper inte­grates per­spec­tives from neu­ro­science, cul­tural psy­chol­ogy, Science and Technology Studies (STS), and HCI to crit­i­cally exam­ine how cul­ture shapes inte­ro­cep­tion. Through a the­matic analy­sis of the lit­er­a­ture, we iden­tify key cul­tural and con­tex­tual dimen­sions that influ­ence inte­ro­cep­tive expe­ri­ences and their impli­ca­tions for well­ness tech­nolo­gies. Rather than pre­scrib­ing design solu­tions, this work chal­lenges dom­i­nant par­a­digms in well­ness tech­nol­ogy, empha­siz­ing inte­ro­cep­tion as cul­tur­ally shaped rather than bio­log­i­cally uni­ver­sal. We high­light over­looked com­plex­i­ties in inte­ro­cep­tive expe­ri­ence and raise crit­i­cal ques­tions for the devel­op­ment of more inclu­sive, con­tex­tu­ally respon­sive well­ness technologies—technologies that do not simply mon­i­tor bodies, but sup­port people in recon­nect­ing with them on their own terms.

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