Dark user interface, dark behavior? The effect of ‘dark mode’ on honesty

Luka Koning; Marianne Junger

doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100107

Dark user interface, dark behavior? The effect of ‘dark mode’ on honesty

Luka Koning^*, Marianne Junger

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

Situational factors affect human behavior, among which dishonesty. Previous studies linked darkness to an increase in immoral behavior. Simultaneously, ‘dark mode’ is increasingly offered in software. Accordingly it is important to investigate the moral behavioral effects of dark mode. In a high-powered, pre-registered, and economically incentivized experiment, users of ‘dark’ and ‘light’ user interfaces were compared on honesty. Results showed no general effect of dark mode on honesty. However, dark mode promoted honesty in users that were awake for a longer period of time. As such, implementation of dark mode is safe and may even be encouraged.

Original language	English
Article number	100107
Journal	Computers in human behavior reports
Volume	4
Early online date	10 Jun 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100107
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2021

Keywords

UT-Gold-D

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10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100107Licence: CC BY

1-s2.0-S2451958821000555-main (1)Final published version, 706 KBLicence: CC BY

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title = "Dark user interface, dark behavior? The effect of {\textquoteleft}dark mode{\textquoteright} on honesty",

abstract = "Situational factors affect human behavior, among which dishonesty. Previous studies linked darkness to an increase in immoral behavior. Simultaneously, {\textquoteleft}dark mode{\textquoteright} is increasingly offered in software. Accordingly it is important to investigate the moral behavioral effects of dark mode. In a high-powered, pre-registered, and economically incentivized experiment, users of {\textquoteleft}dark{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}light{\textquoteright} user interfaces were compared on honesty. Results showed no general effect of dark mode on honesty. However, dark mode promoted honesty in users that were awake for a longer period of time. As such, implementation of dark mode is safe and may even be encouraged.",

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AU - Junger, Marianne

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AB - Situational factors affect human behavior, among which dishonesty. Previous studies linked darkness to an increase in immoral behavior. Simultaneously, ‘dark mode’ is increasingly offered in software. Accordingly it is important to investigate the moral behavioral effects of dark mode. In a high-powered, pre-registered, and economically incentivized experiment, users of ‘dark’ and ‘light’ user interfaces were compared on honesty. Results showed no general effect of dark mode on honesty. However, dark mode promoted honesty in users that were awake for a longer period of time. As such, implementation of dark mode is safe and may even be encouraged.

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Dark user interface, dark behavior? The effect of ‘dark mode’ on honesty

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