A study published in Psychological Reports explored the relationship between emoji use and mental health, personality, and prosociality.
Emojis have a valuable role in written communication, adding emotional depth, facilitating better understanding, and aiding in emotional perception. Emojis have been found to activate brain regions responsible for processing emotions. They also have an impact on how messages are received, serving to either soften instructions or emphasize meanings.
During the pandemic, electronic communication, including the use of emojis, became more widespread. Emojis can effectively convey emotional states, making it easier for individuals to share their feelings. Research has shown that specific emojis, such as sad faces, can indicate depressive symptoms and reflect the emotions of the user. However, the effectiveness of emojis can vary depending on the severity of mental health issues, and individuals with severe emotional disorders may not interpret them accurately.
Furthermore, emojis have been linked to fostering prosocial behavior online. They enable individuals to express approval and support, which are essential components of positive online interactions. Interestingly, certain personality traits, such as agreeableness and extraversion, are associated with the frequent use of positive emojis, while emotional stability tends to predict the use of negative emojis. This suggests that an individual’s personality can influence their emoji preferences.
In this work, Janine Carroll examined the association between mental health, personality, prosocial behavior, and emoji use. A total of 222 participants, recruited from the University of Chester and Prolific Academic, participated in this research. Participants completed measures of anxiety and depression, prosocial behavior, Big 5 personality traits, and various aspects of emoji usage, including frequency, motivation, attitudes, and preferences (e.g., positive and negative emojis).
The results of the study revealed that prosocial behavior was associated with all aspects of emoji usage, encompassing frequency, motivation, and attitudes.Among the personality traits, only agreeableness showed a significant correlation with the frequency of emoji use. Prosocial behavior, extraversion, and agreeableness were predictive of a preference for positive emojis.
Extraversion, conscientiousness, and emotional stability (low neuroticism) were linked to a lower preference for negative emojis. However, individuals reporting poorer general mental health tended to prefer negative emojis.
This study highlights the complexity of emoji use in digital communication, suggesting that individual differences, such as personality and mental health, play an important role in how and why people use emojis.
A limitation Carroll noted is that due to technical errors, the usability of many participants’ data for the emoji use measure was compromised. However, this did not affect statistical power.
The study, “The Role of Prosocial Behaviour, Personality and General Mental Health in Predicting Emoji Use and Preference”, was authored by Janine Carroll.