People With One Particular Texting Habit Have An Unusually Perceptive Understanding Of Emotions, Finds Study

Smiley face, winky face, thumbs up. In the modern world, emojis are just as meaningful as words. Sometimes, we can convey entire messages using a small string of emojis.

If you don't practice the emoji habit, you might want to consider starting. People who do are a whole lot more perceptive when it comes to emotions, and that's not just lip service. It's science. Research has found that people who use emojis often may have an advantage over others: they're much more in tune with detecting emotions on human faces.

A new study reveals that people who use emojis when texting are highly perceptive of emotions.

Whether it be an emoji face on a screen or a human face IRL, it turns out that we interpret emotions in practically the exact same way. A research team at Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom has discovered that our brains process expressions on emojis in similar regions and patterns as we do with real human emotions.

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The study included two separate experiments, with nearly identical conditions. In the first experiment, 24 people were asked to view eight full-color photographs of real people. An equal number of men and women were depicted in the pictures, and they each displayed one of four emotional expressions (happy, angry, sad, or neutral). The second experiment included a different group of 25 participants who looked at emoji faces from six digital platforms, such as Apple and Facebook, also showing the same four emotions.

Both groups viewed their assigned images for one second, then were prompted to select the correct emotion from two options. They also all wore caps with sensors to measure the electrical activity in their brains as they were making these choices, and the results were surprising.

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The brain activates similar brain regions and electrical patterns when processing emotional expressions in both emojis and real faces.

The algorithms that the researchers used to identify the electrical patterns picked up by the sensors could detect exactly which emotional expression a participant was viewing, regardless of whether it was on an emoji or a real person. And it turns out, there were only very small differences between them.

For pictures of emojis, brain activity was detected at around 70 milliseconds after the image initially appeared and peaked at roughly 150 milliseconds. In comparison, real faces spiked these signals around 120 milliseconds, with a peak at about 160 milliseconds. Additionally, both elicited the most activity in the brain's rear regions, which are known in the scientific community for face processing.

Occasionally, the emoji expressions provided even clearer signals through the sensors than the humans did. The scientists believe this could be due to the exaggerated features that emojis usually have, such as oversized grins and frowns, and dramatically widened or narrowed eyes. Human emotions can be displayed much more subtly, with variation among individuals.

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People who text with emojis frequently may be able to recognize and understand emotions better.

Before this study, very little research had been done on how the brain associates emojis with emotions. However, another study from 2023 also explored how humans comprehend emojis compared to human facial expressions. Interestingly, the researchers discovered that male participants were more successful in recognizing emotions on an emoji face than in a human expression. In contrast, female participants were better at determining emotions on real faces than on emojis.

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According to the authors, "It can be hypothesized that the unexpected male proficiency in emoji recognition might reflect a progressively greater inclination of male participants...to express their emotions, particularly negative, but also amorous ones...through messaging in cyberspace."

So, the next time you go to add a string of emoji faces to your texts, take a moment to consider "What am I actually feeling right now?" This small habit can increase your emotional awareness, both in yourself and others.

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Kayla Asbach is a writer with a bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida. She covers relationships, psychology, self-help, pop culture, and human interest topics.