Abstract
In recent years, the use of fitness trackers in sports practice has increased. However, despite their growing popularity, there is little empirical evidence regarding their psychological impact on nonprofessional athletes, particularly in relation to variables such as motivation, anxiety, and perfectionism. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore possible differences and associations in these psychological variables based on the use of fitness trackers. A total of 120 athletes participated and completed three questionnaires: the Sport-MPS-2, the SMS, and the SAS-2. A comparative cross-sectional study of independent groups with non-probabilistic sampling was carried out. Significant differences were observed in the variables of personal standards (U = 861, p = 0.002) and concern about mistakes (U = 873, p < 0.001). These findings suggest an association between the use of fitness trackers and personal standards and concern about mistakes. The association with motivation-related variables depends mainly on the reasons for their use rather than the device itself. Feedback from fitness trackers could act as a cognitive anchor, allowing greater attention to the task at hand. Negative emotional and cognitive associations may be influenced by other variables. The need for further examination of these relationships through larger studies and discipline-specific research is evident.
Summary
Keywords
Anxiety4, athletes5, fitness trackers1, motivation3, perfectionism2
Received
06 February 2026
Accepted
12 March 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Huguet Lopez, TRUJILLO BARBERÁ and LOPEZ MORA. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Irene Huguet Lopez
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