Age-Related Differences in Emoji Evaluation

Judging emoji by occupation: A case of emoji-based sarcasm interpretation

The smiling emoji has been claimed to be a marker of sarcastic intention among young Chinese users in computer-mediated communication. However, it is not well understood whether people interpret the emoji differently based on the characteristics or traits of the sender, as conveyed by occupation stereotypes. We investigated the effect of sender occupation on emoji-based sarcasm interpretation in both unambiguous (Experiment 1) and ambiguous (Experiment 2) contexts. The results showed that contextual incongruity was privileged over sender occupation in cueing sarcastic intention. In unambiguous contexts, sender occupation exerted no significant influence on the interpretation of emoji-based sarcastic statements. In contrast, sender occupation played an important role in the interpretation of emoji-based statements in ambiguous contexts. Specifically, emoji-based ambiguous statements delivered by senders in high‑irony occupations were more likely to be perceived as sarcastic than by those in low-irony occupations. However, sender occupation did not affect the interpretation of the emoji; instead, it biased the judgment of emoji in sarcasm interpretation. In a follow-up experiment (Experiment 3), we investigated the perceived characteristics of both high- and low-irony occupations. The results demonstrated that individuals in high-irony occupations were stereotyped with characteristics, including being humorous, insincere, easy to setting up close relationships, and of a lower social status. Taken together, our study suggests that stereotypical information about the sender could drive the interpretation of potentially sarcastic statements, and the contextual information modulates the effect of sender occupation on sarcasm interpretation.

Memojis Pain Scale: A novel pain assessment tool

BACKGROUND

Dental pain exerts a considerable impact on the psychosocial well-being of children; reliable management of pain depends on the ability to assess pain intensity.

AIM

To validate and compare a new memojis pain assessment scale with the Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS-R) and Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale (WBFPS) in assessing dental pain experienced by children.

DESIGN

Two hundred and fifty healthy children aged 5-9 years without any past dental experience and requiring local anaesthesia (LA) administration were recruited. Three different scales [FPS-R, WBFPS and Memojis Pain Scale (MPS)] were applied to assess the children's pain during LA administration. The preferences of each child based on the ease of understanding the faces were recorded.

RESULTS

Pearson correlation test was performed to determine the correlation between MPS with WBFPS and MPS with FPS-R. A strong correlation was seen when comparing MPS with WBFPS (r = .966; p < .001) and MPS with FPS-R (r = .969; p < .001), and 81.6% of the children preferred MPS.

CONCLUSION

The Memojis Pain Scale was an effective pain assessment tool. It can be employed as an alternative scale for pain assessment in children.

Correlation and differences of patient-reported outcomes vs. Likert-Rating of MS symptoms in a real-world cohort using a digital patient app

Background

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and progressive neurological autoimmune disease currently affecting 250,000 individuals in Germany. Patients suffering from the disease can be severely impaired in their day-to-day activities. BRISA is a digital app specifically designed to help MS patients monitor their disease by regularly tracking symptoms. Lengthy and time-consuming questionnaires for patient-reported outcomes (PRO) are the standard method to assess the patients' current condition. Here, we examine whether simplified versions of these questionnaires can provide comparable information regarding individual symptom presentations in BRISA users.

Methods

828 users were included in the analysis. Patients who provided onboarding information and answered at least one questionnaire and the corresponding simplified smiley symptoms assessment were included. Correlation of questionnaire and symptom scores was calculated using Pearson's correlation.

Results

Our analysis cohort predominantly consisted of female, 26-55-year-olds. Relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) was the most common MS type recorded. Most patients were diagnosed 2-5 years ago. Questionnaires regarding fatigue and vision impairment were among the most answered, those regarding bowel movement and sexual satisfaction received fewest responses. Overall, the scores from questionnaires and symptoms correlated positively. Scoring correlation could also be shown across the subgroups divided by gender, age groups, type of MS, and time since diagnosis of the disease.

Conclusion

Scores recorded from traditional PRO questionnaires can be reflected more easily as a trend in a simplified scale using smileys. Nevertheless, traditional questionnaires are needed to also maintain a more objective assessment. In conclusion, the patient will benefit most from an adaptive combination of regular traditional PRO questionnaire assessments and simplified symptom recording.

Emoji as promising tools for emotional evaluation in orthodontics

Background

Emoji are pictograms frequently used in social networks capable of expressing emotions. These tools can provide insights into people's behavior that could not be obtained with the use of textual communication. Recently, emoji have been introduced to various research fields as successful alternatives to word-based questionnaires for measure emotional responses. The objective of this study was to preliminarily evaluate the discriminating ability and relationship of these tools with different occlusal conditions/malocclusions.

Methods

Online surveys were applied to adult individuals (n = 201; mean age = 27.4 ± 5.7; 37.3% males, 62.7% females). Subjects issued acceptance scores (10-point scale) and expressed their emotional status using a 30-emoji list in relation to nine occlusal conditions: C1–crowding, C2–anterior open bite, C3–interincisal diastema, C4–increased overjet + deep bite (Class II div. 1), C5–anterior crossbite (Class III), C6–ideal occlusion, C7–unilateral posterior crossbite, C8–anterior open bite plus bilateral posterior crossbite plus crowding, and C9–deep bite (Class II div. 2). Cochran's Q and McNemar tests were used to compare the frequencies of choice of emoji between conditions. Correspondence analyses were applied to assess the association between occlusal conditions and emoji. Kendall's correlation coefficient was calculated to evaluate the relationship between mean acceptance scores and frequency counts of each emoji.

Results

The frequency of choice between conditions showed a significant difference for 25 of the 30 emoji (P < 0.05), indicating an adequate discriminating ability of these tools. Emoji were grouped predominantly based on their emotional valence (positive/negative) and arousal/activation (high/low). Positive emoji were associated with the most accepted conditions (i.e., C6, C3), while negative emoji with the most rejected ones (i.e., C8, C1, C2). Although only weak, positive correlations between acceptance and positively valenced emoji, and negative correlations between acceptance and negatively valenced emoji were observed (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

Emoji have an adequate discriminatory ability and would allow determining emotional profiles in the face of different occlusal conditions. Further research is necessary to consolidate the use of these tools in an instrument that allows measuring emotional responses.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40510-022-00418-3.

Emoji meanings (pleasure–arousal–dominance dimensions) in consumer research: Between‐country and interpersonal differences

In line with the increasing popularity of emoji, the need for methodological research into these pictorial representations of emotion remains. The present research contributes to this goal by continuing to establish the meaning of emoji and exploring these according to between-country and interpersonal differences. The emoji (n = 12) were selected to span the valence × arousal emotion space, and the PAD model (Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance) was used to establish emoji meaning for the three dimensions, operationalized as measurement on 6 × 3 semantic differentials. Participants in the main study came from three countries-Germany, Singapore, and Malaysia (n = 2465), and a supplementary study included the United Kingdom and New Zealand (n = 600) (subset of four emoji). The results confirmed that emoji meanings according to the PAD model were largely similar between countries (albeit not identical). There were multiple minor significant differences for individual emoji, and where these existed, they often related to the dimension of Arousal, prompting a need for further investigation. Interpersonal differences were examined for gender (men and women), age group (18-45 and 46-69 years old), and frequency of emoji use. Again, significant differences were smaller rather than larger and supported the notion that emoji are generally applicable for multicountry research. However, caution regarding the participants who use emoji infrequently may be warranted. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The findings from this research will help academics and practitioners who are interested in using emoji for sensory and consumer research (or are already doing so) with more robust interpretations of their findings. For a set of 12 emoji that provide broad coverage of the valence × arousal emotional space, meanings are provided on the three dimensions of the PAD model. The data is collected in five countries and contributes to increased confidence that emoji meanings are by and large similar in these countries.

Age Differences in the Interpretation of Facial Emojis: Classification on the Arousal-Valence Space

Emojis are universal tools that are frequently used to express people’s emotional states throughout daily communications. They are often applied in various fields of research, such as consumer surveys, as indicators of users’ emotional states. Further analyses of emoji interpretation among people with age are required to ensure the validity of emojis as a metric in such fields of research, thereby reducing misunderstandings. However, details regarding the effect of age on both arousal and valence, as they pertain to the interpretation of emojis, remain unclear. Therefore, in this study, we investigate the effects of the interpretation of facial emojis on the arousal-valence space among people of varying age groups. We conducted an online survey involving 2,000 participants, whereby we employed a nine-point scale to evaluate the valence and arousal levels associated with 74 facial emojis. Based on the two axes of valence and arousal among the age groups involved in this study, emojis are categorized into six similar clusters. For the two negative clusters, i.e., strongly negative and moderately negative sentiments, the group involving middle-aged participants showed significantly higher levels of arousal compared to the group involving young participants. Additionally, not all emojis classified into the aforementioned negative clusters indicate age difference. Based on these results, this study recommends using emojis with no age-related effects on the negative clusters as indices for evaluating human emotions.

Respecting the Old and Loving the Young: Emoji-Based Sarcasm Interpretation Between Younger and Older Adults

The interpretation of sarcasm relies on many cues and constraints. In computer-mediated communication (CMC), paralinguistic cues, such as emoticons and emoji, play an important role in signaling sarcastic intention. Smiling emoji have been claimed to be a marker of sarcasm among Chinese senders. Shared knowledge between the sender and the recipient, such as age and relationship, has a substantial effect on irony or sarcasm interpretation. However, hardly any research has been done to integrate the two factors to explore their joint effect on sarcasm interpretation. The present study investigated the interaction effect of these factors on the interpretation of ambiguous statements accompanied by a smiling emoji. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the differences between younger and older adults in making judgments about ambiguous statements accompanied by a smiling emoji. The results showed that sender age and sender–receiver relationship have disparate influences on younger and older adults’ interpretation of emoji-based ambiguous statements. For younger adults, sender age and sender–receiver relationship were significantly associated with the perceived sarcasm of emoji-based ambiguous statements, whereas for older adults, sender age had a null effect on the sarcastic interpretation of emoji-based ambiguous statements, but relationship was an important cue that might impact their interpretation.

The use of emoji to establish student wellbeing: does the image reflect the reality?

Introduction:

The impact of COVID-19 social restrictions on mental wellbeing of health professional students during placement is largely unknown. Conventional survey methods do not capture emotional fluctuations. Increasing use of smartphones suggests short message service (SMS) functionality could provide easy, rapid data. This project tested the feasibility and validity of gathering data on Therapeutic Radiography student mental wellbeing during clinical placement via emoji and SMS.

Methods:

Participants provided anonymous daily emoji responses via WhatsApp to a dedicated mobile phone. Additional weekly prompts sought textual responses indicating factors impacting on wellbeing. A short anonymous online survey validated responses and provided feedback on the method.

Results:

Participants (n = 15) provided 254 daily responses using 108 different emoji; these triangulated with weekly textual responses. Feedback concerning the method was positive. ‘Happy’ emoji were used most frequently; social interaction and fatigue were important wellbeing factors. Anonymity and opportunity to feedback via SMS were received positively; ease and rapidity of response engendered engagement throughout the 3-week study.

Conclusions:

The use of emoji for rapid assessment of cohort mental wellbeing is valid and potentially useful alongside more formal evaluation and support strategies. Capturing simple wellbeing responses from a cohort may facilitate the organisation of timely support interventions.

Effects of Category Labeling With Emojis on Likert-Type Scales on the Psychometric Properties of Measurements

Today, emoji have become a popular option for anchoring the categories of Likert-type scales applied to not only adults but also children. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of category labeling with emoji by comparing the psychometric properties of the emoji- and verbal-anchored versions of the mathematics motivation scale applied to students aged 8–11 years (grades 3, 4, and 5). The participants of the study comprised 658 students. According to the research results, students used the upper categories of the scale more intensively in the emoji-anchored version than in the verbal-anchored one. Parallel to this, the means calculated for the emoji-anchored version were found to be significantly higher. Moreover, the results of the research revealed that the verbal-anchored scale form yielded more reliable and valid measures than the emoji-anchored version.