NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A picture really is worth a thousand words, but what about an emoji?
An undergrad-professor research team at Christopher Newport University decided to test if people are perceived differently if they use emojis.
Their findings show that when messaging, it is better to punctuate with emojis if the sender wants to be seen in a positive light.
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Brook Nixon, '22, and Dr. Nicole Guarado, the Dean of the College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences and Professor of Psychology, conducted a research project that concludes matching emoji for emoji in text conversations will make the texter seem "considerably more likable," according to an article about the research.
The team's study—which was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Language and Social Psychology—analyzes the social implications of digital communication in all its different forms.
The research says that emoji selection can make a difference too. The findings, the articles says, are rooted in the Chameleon Effect—the tendency to mimic others during interactions. When texters exchange emojis, they develop "a smiley-face-to-smiley-face rapport," according to the article.
Emojis aid in developing empathy and fostering a connection between communicators, despite only interacting digitally and sometimes from great distances, according to the article.
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CNU says that Nixon got the idea for the research when she considered how texting affected interpersonal communication and the potential for social collateral damage, especially during the pandemic.
“As COVID evolved, I became particularly attentive to the potential ramifications of digital communication replacing face-to-face conversations,” Nixon said. “I also noticed myself giving more attention to the way I read and replied to messages since they were often in place of in-person interactions. It got me interested in understanding how people may deploy traditionally in-person social cues, like mimicry, within digital settings.”
After approaching Dr. Guarado, the team spent the summer researching as part of CNU's Summer Scholar program, according to the article. For the project, they created a series of fictitious message screenshots—some featuring mimicry with emojis and some not— where participants rated the likability of the responder.
“Upon viewing each screenshot, participants rated how likable Person B (the one replying) was," Nixon is quoted saying in the CNU article. "They also completed an empathy measure. We then analyzed if the senders of mimicked messages were rated as more likable than those sending the non-mimicked and if the empathy level of the participant played a role in how they rated the message senders."
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When the respondent sent a message that mimicked the style of the first message, likability soared, according to the article. This means that mimicry is just as important in digital communication as it is in face-to-face communication.
So if you are debating reciprocating the exclamation point, the "lol" or even the emoji, go for it, it will help your relationship with the person you're talking to.
“Humans are social beings," Nixon concluded saying in the CNU article on the study. "And whether sending emojis or talking face–to-face, we want to feel connected to others."
