Does Behavioral Science Have a Dark Side?
I recently downloaded a new app to manage my meetings better. It was touted as one of those productivity apps that helps manage tasks, set reminders and timers for events, and collaborate across platforms, so I thought I’d give it a try. Once I logged in—perhaps too seamlessly—I realized that the platform didn’t have some essential features I needed (like integrating appointments across calendars), so I figured keeping it wasn’t worthwhile keeping.
The decision to delete the app was almost instantaneous, but the process was excruciatingly long. It took about four steps to just get to the “Log Out” button, and even after clicking on it, the platform prompted me with the classic message: Are you sure? We’re sad to see you go. Luckily, I sidestepped that emotionally laden plea and managed to log out.
Sound familiar? This strategy, commonly deployed by digital companies to make users second-guess their behaviors, actually relies on behavioral science in a pretty nefarious way. Let’s break down how and why.
Falling into Behavioral Quicksand
What I sidestepped there is called a dark pattern: a misleading design in online interfaces meant to influence your behavior—and not for your own good. These patterns tend to be deceptive, manipulative, and coercive and are woven into the fabric of UI and UX design.1 Large corporations and developers therein create dark patterns strategically to make you spend additional resources—whether that be time, money, or effort—on websites and apps, most often to collect more data on your browsing behavior. Commonly, for-profit giants will apply this information the next time you log on through tactics like targeted advertisements, creating a vicious cycle that’s hard to break out of.
Using behavioral science wisely may seem like it would help solve this problem, but it’s actually central to the problem itself. Usually, we would assume this field is meant to facilitate better choices that lead to better outcomes for all—and rightfully so. Ideally, we researchers, designers, policymakers, and the like want to apply behavioral science to move toward common good, ensuring welfare and progress along the way.2
However, the term “good” here depends on who you’re asking—and for the dark side of behavioral science, this means profit-driving choices that don’t hold the user’s best interest in mind. The dark pattern I encountered earlier, which attempted to slyly guilt me into not deleting the app, is just one (mis)application of behavioral principles.
Unfortunately, dark patterns don’t act alone. Sludges, or design features that impede behavioral decision-making, are another example of misapplied behavioral science. While nudges are a common tool meant to encourage behaviors, sludges act as their “antithesis,” making it more challenging to carry out the desired action. The productivity app I was trying to uninstall, for instance, also relied on a pop-up with sludge-like content to try to dissuade me from leaving the app.
It’s worth stressing that sometimes, designers do not realize that the end-user may find it difficult to perform some behaviors due to design issues in their platforms—such as jumping over bureaucratic hurdles when filling out complicated forms. However, at other times, designers may deliberately place sludges and dark patterns in platforms to retain users in wicked ways.
References
- Mathur, A., Kshirsagar, M., & Mayer, J. (2021). What makes a dark pattern... Dark? Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445610
- Kapoor, H., & Tagat, A. (2024). Transforming behavioral science, creatively. In R. J. Sternberg & S. Karami (Eds.), Transformational Creativity (pp. 183–196). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51590-3_13
- Luo, Y., Li, A., Soman, D., & Zhao, J. (2023). A meta-analytic cognitive framework of nudge and sludge. Royal Society Open Science, 10(11). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230053
- Gray, C. M., Chen, J., Chivukula, S. S., & Qu, L. (2021). End user accounts of dark patterns as felt manipulation. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 5. https://doi.org/10.1145/3479516
- Roman Family Center for Decision Research. (2021, November 4). Think Better with Richard Thaler. The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. https://www.chicagobooth.edu/research/roman/stories/think-better-with-richard-thaler
- Deceptive Patterns - Hall of Shame. (n.d.). https://www.deceptive.design/hall-of-shame
- x.com. (n.d.). X (Formerly Twitter). https://twitter.com/jagritichandra/status/1717559458174583075
- Binder, M. (2023, October 6). X rolls out new ad format that can’t be reported, blocked. Mashable India. https://in.mashable.com/tech/61587/x-rolls-out-new-ad-format-that-cant-be-reported-blocked
- Kapoor, H., & Kaufman, J. C. (2022). The evil within: The AMORAL model of dark creativity. Theory & Psychology, 32(3), 467–490. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543221074326
- Sunstein, C. R. (2022). Sludge audits. Behavioural Public Policy, 6(4), 654–673. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2019.32
- NSW Behavioural Insights Unit. (2024, May 30). Sludge Toolkit. NSW Government. https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/behavioural-insights-unit/sludge-toolkit
- Fair Patterns - Design high growth products without legal risk. (n.d.). https://www.fairpatterns.com/
- Dark patterns and sludge audits: an integrated approach. (2023). In Behavioural Public Policy, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2023.24
- Shahab, S., & Lades, L. K. (2024). Sludge and transaction costs. Behavioural Public Policy, 8(2), 327–348. doi:10.1017/bpp.2021.12
About the Author
Hansika Kapoor, PhD
Dr. Hansika Kapoor is a Research Author at the Department of Psychology, Monk Prayogshala. She holds a PhD from IIT, Bombay in the area of creativity, specifically dark creativity (i.e., how people get good ideas to do bad things). She is the recipient of the Fulbright-Nehru Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship (2019-2020) and is an Affiliate at the University of Connecticut. She is a published author and practicing psychologist with diverse experiences in research consultancy in behavioral and cognitive science. Her research interests lie in individual differences, creativity, and behavioral science.Hansika has also been featured in the book 31 Fantastic Adventures in Science: Women Scientists in India. Her X is @hansika_kapoor. To know more, please visit: www.hansikakapoor.in
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