Cultivating a Tech-Safety Mindset using Game-Based Learning for Defending against Technology-Facilitated Abuse
Authors: Majed Almansoori (University of Wisconsin--Madison and United Arab Emirates University (UAEU)), Chirag Ghosh (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur), Sarita Singh (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur), Rahul Chatterjee (University of Wisconsin--Madison), Mainack Mondal (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur)
Volume: 2026
Issue: 4
Pages: 507–525
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56553/popets-2026-0132
Abstract: Technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) has become increasingly common as abusers exploit everyday technologies to monitor and harass others, mainly their intimate partners. Preventing TFA requires not only reactive technical support but proactively cultivating protective mindsets --- awareness of personal vulnerability, recognition of threat severity, and confidence to implement defensive strategies --- before abuse escalates. Yet no research has developed educational tools grounded in behavior change theory specifically for technology-facilitated abuse prevention. We address this gap with BeSafe, a narrative-driven visual novel game grounded in Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and designed to shift how users perceive and respond to TFA threats. Through a study with 198 participants across six platform contexts, we assessed both knowledge acquisition and changes in PMT constructs: perceived vulnerability, perceived severity, self-efficacy, and fear arousal. Our results show that BeSafe produced significant knowledge gains alongside meaningful shifts in protection motivation. Participants with prior exposure to online abuse showed substantially greater gains across both knowledge and motivation measures. Many participants reported intentions to review privacy settings and share protective strategies with others, indicating motivation to act on what they learned. Our findings demonstrate that game-based interventions can cultivate digital safety mindsets, offering a scalable, proactive complement to existing reactive support services.
Keywords: Technology-facilitated abuse, Game-based learning, Digital safety, Protection motivation theory, Behavior change, Privacy education
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