Graduation Year

2025

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Linguistics and Cognitive Science

Reader 1

Lise Abrams

Reader 2

Laura Johnson

Abstract

In digital environments, emotional factors play a critical role in shaping user engagement and satisfaction. This study investigates the impact of guilt-inducing feedback on user behavior within a gamified interface. Drawing on existing literature from human-computer interaction, emotional psychology, and UX/UI design, the research explores how guilt influences users’ decisions to persist in or disengage from a digital task. Participants (N = 34) from the Claremont Colleges were randomly assigned to either a guilt-inducing or neutral condition during a resource allocation game. Following the game, participants were offered a secondary activity, coloring, to assess continued engagement with the initial task. Results revealed that participants in the guilt condition spent significantly more time on the game than those in the neutral condition, despite no significant differences in self-reported guilt. Instead, guilt-induced participants reported significantly higher levels of frustration and lower overall satisfaction with the experience. These findings suggest that emotional discomfort, even when not consciously identified as guilt, may motivate corrective behaviors and sustained engagement. The study highlights the complex relationship between affect and user decision-making, raising ethical considerations for designers leveraging negative emotions to drive engagement in gamified digital systems.

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This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.

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