Go easy on the Negative Emojis in Digital Conversations

According to research by the University of Ottawa, recipients of text messages assume negative words, and emojis carry more emotional weight than positive words and emojis.

Even when it comes to sarcastic texts, which normally comprise a negative message and a positive emoji, recipients are likely to overlook the positive emoji and focus on the negative.

Isabelle Boutet, a U of O psychology professor and an expert on face perception and cyberpsychology, led the research team to study the importance of emojis in digital communications.

“Unless you want to be perceived negatively, you should certainly avoid using negative emojis,” she said. “Also, it isn’t only a matter of avoiding the use of negative emojis. If you want to be viewed positively, use positive emojis in your text messages.”

Read the full article Emojis influence emotional communication, social attributions, and information processing, in Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 119, June 2021, 106722