A new study has shown that the emojis we send in text messages are doing a great job in developing proximity in relationships.
To send emojis more often can improve your relationship.
The conclusion is from a study this Wednesday in PLOS One.
We know that emojis are, as described, “an expressive visual abbreviation of emotions and ideas.”
What we didn’t know much, so far, was about its ability to help Create stronger connections with people in our lives.
Eun Huhfrom the University of Texas in Austin and the author of the study, asked 260 adults, aged between 23 and 67, who read two sets of 15 text messages virtually identical, except for the use of emoji in one sets.
Then it was asked each participant to imagine as the sender of each message and to see how it felt about the answers of your partner in these texts.
Thanks to a Likert Scalein which, on a scale of 1 to 7, they classified them how much they agreed or disagreed with the statements that described a series of perceptions, emojis help to signal attention and emotional involvement.
This was especially important, because, according to Huh, the perceived reactivity leads to better results in the relationshipas a greater sense of proximity, greater satisfaction with the relationship and, indirectly, greater sympathy.
Interestingly, the study’s texts used both face emojis, which directly describe emotions, such as non -face emojis, such as objects or symbols.
The results show that the type of emoji that accompanied these texts did not affect the way people perceived the ability to respond as long as it was emotionally consistent with the message.
Personal factors such as the age of participants, sex and their own level of emojis use also did not affect these results.
For lovers (or not in love): Send more emojis!
