Low-dimensional meaning and management of uncertainty

Understanding how individuals deal with uncertainty represents a core issue in contemporary times. The Semiotic Dimensionality Model (SDM) conceive uncertainty as the inability of the meaning-maker to produce an interpretation of the context able to frame the processing of events/objects. Such inability turns in reducing the complexity of the contextual meaning through the adoption of low-dimensional affect-laden form of meaning. This study tests SDM evidencing individuals’ affective activation and meaning dimensionality inducing uncertainty. A total of 65 participants were assigned to experimental vs. control group. The first trial exposed participants to a different prime (No Contextual Information vs. Contextual Information) and were asked to produce a story. In the second trial participants were shown a vignette (asymmetrical vs. symmetrical) and asked to produce a story. Stimulus Validity Check Scales, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule questionnaire and the dimensionality of meaning (Affective Saturation Index) were detected. In the first trial experimental group showed a higher level of positive affect and lower dimensionality of the meaning. In the second trial the experimental group showed lower dimensionality. Findings shed light on the mechanisms underlying uncertainty coping, which enables to better understand how to regulate it and how to contrast its psychological and social impacts.