The New York Post uses the 'curiosity gap' to trigger a psychological urge to click on its stories.

The curiosity gap is a psychological concept first formalized by George Loewenstein of Carnegie Mellon University in 1994. His 'Information Gap Theory' suggests that curiosity is a state of deprivation that arises when we notice a void in our knowledge. This void creates a feeling of cognitive dissonance or mental discomfort. To resolve this unpleasant sensation, the human brain is biologically driven to seek out the missing information.Media outlets like the New York Post, founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1801, have evolved to use this tactic in the digital age to drive traffic. By crafting headlines that provide just enough information to tease a story without revealing the conclusion, they trigger the brain's reward system. Specifically, the anticipation of learning something new releases dopamine in the brain's nucleus accumbens. This is the same region associated with pleasure and addiction.A study published in the journal 'Psychological Science' in 2016 confirmed that curiosity can be as powerful a motivator as hunger. Researchers found that participants were willing to risk physical pain or discomfort just to resolve a curiosity-inducing scenario. The New York Post leverages this by using 'clickbait' structures that often include superlatives or cliffhangers. This strategy ensures that the urge to click becomes an almost involuntary response to the perceived information deficit.