College of Arts + Sciences Seminar SeriesThe Use and Emotional Processing of Emojis

The Use and Emotional Processing of Emojis
Dr. Lara Jones, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Wayne State University

Thursday, October 19, 2023

In a sample of Metro Detroit undergraduate students, 97% reported using emojis at least “sometimes” in their text messaging. But what factors predict who uses emojis, how they use them, and the initial and conscious assessment of the emotional information contained within them, or the feeling produced from them? This first part of this talk describes several factors that predict emoji use – including age, gender, and personality. The initial emotional processing of facial or “smiley” emojis may entail assessing the overall valence (positivity/negativity) and arousal of the emoji itself or of the feeling produced by the emoji. The second part of the talk describes how gender, emoji use, and various affect-related traits (e.g., positive and negative affect, empathy, anxiety, affect intensity) are related to these affective judgments of emojis. Throughout the talk, sources of experimental curiosity driving further emoji research are discussed.