From Physical Hoarding to Digital Hoarding: The New Manifestations of Hoarding Disorders in the Present Era

Abstract

Hoarding has functioned as an adaptive survival strategy throughout human evolution, enabling individuals to cope with uncertain and fluctuating resource availability. In contemporary societies, this propensity has extended into the digital domain, giving rise to the phenomenon of digital hoarding. Digital hoarding refers to the excessive accumulation and retention of digital materials, accompanied by a marked reluctance to delete them; it cannot be reduced to ordinary practices of digital archiving or backup. It is further characterised by its high concealability, the relatively low economic and practical costs of storage, and the minimal external pressure or social sanction to discard possessions. This paper argues that digital and physical hoarding share common motivational foundations, including efforts to mitigate anxiety about potential resource loss and to preserve objects imbued with personal or sentimental significance. Maladaptive perfectionism and insecure attachment styles jointly contribute to the development of digital hoarding tendencies, which are subsequently reinforced by technological affordances (such as inexpensive, large-capacity storage) and broader sociocultural norms that valorise data accumulation and constant connectivity. Given that digital hoarding is emerging as a salient mental health concern, future research should prioritise the design and evaluation of targeted cognitive interventions for hoarding disorder and examine the legal, cultural, and policy contexts that shape digital possession, storage practices, and deletion norms.