Uncertainty Reduction Through Affective and Cognitive Media Manipulations: An Eye-Tracking Pilot Study Across NFC Profile

This study explores the effects of manipulative content on uncertainty reduction, focusing on individual differences in Need for Cognition (NFC). Behavioral (reading cessation) and physiological (eye-tracking) measures were used to assess responses to cognitive, affective, and neutral stimuli. Results indicate that cognitive manipulations increase reading time; and cognitive and affective manipulations elicit more fixations and saccades compared to neutral content. However, fixation duration, blink rate, and saccade velocity did not significantly differ across conditions. Correlations between NFC and eye-tracking metrics were not significant, suggesting that manipulative content impacts uncertainty reduction dynamics independently of NFC.