An Integrated Review of Emoticons in Computer-Mediated Communication

Which emoji are markers of sarcasm among Chinese teenagers using the WeChat app?

This study explored emoji-based sarcastic statements made by Chinese teenagers using the WeChat app. Two experiments (N = 597) were conducted to investigate both language production and comprehension. In Experiment 1 (N = 236), a free-response task was used to determine which emoji Chinese teenagers would use to signal their sarcastic intentions. The results showed that the smiling emoji (Image 1) and the tears-of-joy emoji (Image 2) were the most commonly used emoji to indicate sarcastic intent. Experiment 2 (N = 361) involved a rating task to investigate the role that two selected emoji played in the comprehension and emotional impact of WeChat messages (literal and sarcastic statements). Our findings revealed that both emoji generally increased the perceived sarcasm in literal comments; however, while the smiling emoji intensified the perceived sarcasm in sarcastic comments, the tears-of-joy emoji had no significant effect on such comments. Regarding emotional impact, the smiling emoji amplified the negativity of the statement, whereas the tears-of-joy emoji mitigated it. This indicates that both emoji and context are reliable cues for interpreting sarcasm, though their levels of reliability may differ. Specifically, the smiling emoji carries greater weight than context, while context is afforded stronger weight than the tears-of-joy emoji in the constraint-satisfaction process of sarcasm. Overall, the smiling emoji is perceived as more sarcastic and more negative than the tears-of-joy emoji.

Emotional text messages affect the early processing of emoticons depending on their emotional congruence: evidence from the N170 and EPN event related potentials

Emoticons have been considered pragmatic cues that enhance emotional expressivity during computer-mediated communication. Yet, it is unclear how emoticons are processed in ambiguous text-based communication due to incongruences between the emoticon's emotional valence and its context. In this study, we investigated the electrophysiological correlates of contextual influence on the early emotional processing of emoticons, during an emotional congruence judgment task. Participants were instructed to judge the congruence between a text message expressing an emotional situation (positive or negative), and a subsequent emoticon expressing positive or negative emotions. We analyzed early event-related potentials elicited by emoticons related to face processing (N170) and emotional salience in visual perception processing (Early Posterior Negativity, EPN). Our results show that accuracy and Reaction Times depend on the interaction between the emotional valence of the context and the emoticon. Negative emoticons elicited a larger N170, suggesting that the emotional information of the emoticon is integrated at the early stages of the perceptual process. During emoticon processing, a valence effect was observed with enhanced EPN amplitudes in occipital areas for emoticons representing negative valences. Moreover, we observed a congruence effect in parieto-temporal sites within the same time-window, with larger amplitudes for the congruent condition. We conclude that, similar to face processing, emoticons are processed differently according to their emotional content and the context in which they are embedded. A congruent context might enhance the emotional salience of the emoticon (and therefore, its emotional expression) during the early stages of their processing.

Tactile emoticons: Conveying social emotions and intentions with manual and robotic tactile feedback during social media communications

Touch offers important non-verbal possibilities for socioaffective communication. Yet most digital communications lack capabilities regarding exchanging affective tactile messages (tactile emoticons). Additionally, previous studies on tactile emoticons have not capitalised on knowledge about the affective effects of certain mechanoreceptors in the human skin, e.g., the C-Tactile (CT) system. Here, we examined whether gentle manual stroking delivered in velocities known to optimally activate the CT system (defined as 'tactile emoticons'), during lab-simulated social media communications could convey increased feelings of social support and other prosocial intentions compared to (1) either stroking touch at CT sub-optimal velocities, or (2) standard visual emoticons. Participants (N = 36) felt more social intent with CT-optimal compared to sub-optimal velocities, or visual emoticons. In a second, preregistered study (N = 52), we investigated whether combining visual emoticons with tactile emoticons, this time delivered at CT-optimal velocities by a soft robotic device, could enhance the perception of prosocial intentions and affect participants' physiological measures (e.g., skin conductance rate) in comparison to visual emoticons alone. Visuotactile emoticons conveyed more social intent overall and in anxious participants affected physiological measures more than visual emoticons. The results suggest that emotional social media communications can be meaningfully enhanced by tactile emoticons.

Digital contact does not promote wellbeing, but face-to-face contact does: A cross-national survey during the COVID-19 pandemic

With restricted face-to-face interactions, COVID-19 lockdowns and distancing measures tested the capability of computer-mediated communication to foster social contact and wellbeing. In a multinational sample (n = 6436), we investigated how different modes of contact related to wellbeing during the pandemic. Computer-mediated communication was more common than face-to-face, and its use was influenced by COVID-19 death rates, more so than state stringency measures. Despite its legal and health threats, face-to-face contact was still positively associated with wellbeing, and messaging apps had a negative association. Perceived household vulnerability to COVID-19 reduced the positive effect of face-to-face communication on wellbeing, but surprisingly, people's own vulnerability did not. Computer-mediated communication was particularly negatively associated with the wellbeing of young and empathetic people. Findings show people endeavored to remain socially connected, yet however, maintain a physical distance, despite the tangible costs to their wellbeing.

A study of dynamic emoji emotional responses based on rhythms and motion effects

Dynamic emojis are a form of nonverbal communication used in social programs to express emotions during conversations. Studies have shown that different dynamic effects can influence users' emotional perceptions. Previous studies have focused on the emotional responses elicited by static emojis, while the emotional responses to dynamic emojis have not been thoroughly explored. In this study, we examined the impact of 128 different dynamic effects, categorized into emotional types (HAHV, LAHV, HALV, and LALV), on users' arousal and valence, and conducted semi-structured interviews to identify users' preferred dynamic effects. The results revealed significant and positive correlations between the arousal levels of all dynamic emojis and the effects of rhythms. However, the impact of rhythms on the valence of dynamic emojis varied depending on the emotion types of emojis. Specifically, the effects of motion on the valence of dynamic high-valence emojis were found to be significant, whereas they were not significant for dynamic low-valence emojis. Based on these findings, we recommend considering following factors in the design of dynamic emojis, including rhythms, motion effects, motion range, emotional metaphors, and the creation of contrast.

Support provision in a digitalized world: The consequences of social sharing across different communication channels

People tend to share their emotional experiences with others, with sharing increasingly done online. This raises questions about the quality of computer-mediated vs. face-to-face sharing. The present review (1) outlines conditions for sharing to improve emotional and relational well-being, (2) discusses when computer-mediated sharing with other people may (not) be conducive to these conditions, and (3) reviews recent research on the effectiveness of computer-mediated sharing with humans and virtual agents. It is concluded that the emotional and relational consequences of sharing are dependent on the responsiveness of the listener, regardless of the communication channel. Differences exist, however, in the extent to which channels are conducive to various forms of responding, with implications for speakers' emotional and relational well-being.

Speech acts and the communicative functions of emojis in LIHKG online discussion forum amid COVID-19

Since the beginning of 2022, the Hong Kong government has imposed strict social distancing measures and changed its stance on various regional policies with the aim to contain the so-called 'fifth wave' of COVID-19. In these pandemic and 'infodemic' times filled with uncertainty and fear, Hong Kong netizens used local online discussion forums as a resource to establish an innovative form of 'helping network.' This study is based on 230 posts from a popular local online discussion forum 'LIHKG' in February 2022 when the pandemic was regarded as most critical by the Department of Health. Speech Acts theoretic approach was adopted to explore how forum users employed speech acts to perform various communicative practices such as expressing concerns, asking for information, and engaging with others in a CMC environment amid a global health crisis. Representatives were found to be the most dominant text-based speech acts, followed by directives, expressives and commissives. Speech acts provide forum users a context in which emoji usage occurs. Forum users not only make use of words to 'do' things in the online self-help forum, but they also employ emojis to either supplement or complement speech acts. This study also shows that emojis perform multiple functions in the discussion posts and argues that they do not merely function as emotion indicators of their textual company, but also carry significant pragmatic meanings by illustrating how they can also carry illocutionary force and in some cases, even alter the illocutionary force of their preceding texts. The findings of this study enhance our understanding of how forum users communicate via verbal and nonverbal means within the underexplored 'helping domain' of online discussion forums. It also suggests that online discussion forum interactions need to be approached differently than other better understood alternatives.

Emoji-SP, the Spanish emoji database: Visual complexity, familiarity, frequency of use, clarity, and emotional valence and arousal norms for 1031 emojis

This article presents subjective norms for 1031 emojis in six dimensions: visual complexity, familiarity, frequency of use, clarity, emotional valence, and emotional arousal. This is the largest normative study conducted so far that relies on subjective ratings. Unlike the few existing normative studies, which mainly comprise face emojis, here we present a wide range of emoji categories. We also examine the correlations between the dimensions assessed. Our results show that, in terms of their affective properties, emojis are analogous to other stimuli, such as words, showing the expected U-shaped relationship between valence and arousal. The relationship between affective properties and other dimensions (e.g., between valence and familiarity) is also similar to the relationship observed in words, in the sense that positively valenced emojis are more familiar than negative ones. These findings suggest that emojis are suitable stimuli for studying affective processing. Emoji-SP will be highly valuable for researchers of various fields interested in emojis, including computer science, communication, linguistics, and psychology. The full set of norms is available at: https://osf.io/dtfjv/ .

Effect of Social Actors Perceived Agency on Social Presence in Computer-Mediated Communication

Nowadays, both text-based and 3D online applications rely on conversational agents and autonomous characters to interact with users. Previous experiments demonstrated that perceived agency, that is to say, one’s belief in interacting with a computer- or another human-controlled entity could impact social interaction. At present, theories and results still diverge and no consensus has been reached. Therefore, we developed an experiment to investigate the effect of perceived agency and emotional communication on social presence. Participants were told that they would play an online image recognition game against a computer- or a human-controlled opponent. In both cases, participants faced a computer-controlled opponent designed to provide a challenging yet balanced competitive experience. Depending on the experimental conditions, participants were able to communicate with their opponents using emoticons between the game rounds. Results demonstrate a significant main effect of emotional communication on the three dimensions of social presence we considered in this experiment. An interaction effect between perceived agency and emotional communication was observed in copresence, another core dimension of social presence. The impact of emotional communication on participants’ sense of copresence depends on the perceived agency of the opponent. A significant increase was observed for participants facing a computer-controlled opponent when emotional communication was allowed. The sense of copresence was even higher when they were facing a computer-controlled opponent rather than a presumed human-controlled one. These results are discussed with regard to theories of social interaction in computer-mediated communication.

Engagement in digital interventions

The notion of "engagement," which plays an important role in various domains of psychology, is gaining increased currency as a concept that is critical to the success of digital interventions. However, engagement remains an ill-defined construct, with different fields generating their own domain-specific definitions. Moreover, given that digital interactions in real-world settings are characterized by multiple demands and choice alternatives competing for an individual's effort and attention, they involve fast and often impulsive decision-making. Prior research seeking to uncover the mechanisms underlying engagement has nonetheless focused mainly on psychological factors and social influences and neglected to account for the role of neural mechanisms that shape individual choices. This article aims to integrate theories and empirical evidence across multiple domains to define engagement and discuss opportunities and challenges to promote effective engagement in digital interventions. We also propose the affect-integration-motivation and attention-context-translation (AIM-ACT) framework, which is based on a neurophysiological account of engagement, to shed new light on how in-the-moment engagement unfolds in response to a digital stimulus. Building on this framework, we provide recommendations for designing strategies to promote engagement in digital interventions and highlight directions for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Machine Learning Algorithms for Detection and Classifications of Emotions in Contact Center Applications

Over the past few years, virtual assistant solutions used in Contact Center systems are gaining popularity. One of the main tasks of the virtual assistant is to recognize the intentions of the customer. It is important to note that quite often the actual intention expressed in a conversation is also directly influenced by the emotions that accompany that conversation. Unfortunately, scientific literature has not identified what specific types of emotions in Contact Center applications are relevant to the activities they perform. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to develop an Emotion Classification for Machine Detection of Affect-Tinged Conversational Contents dedicated directly to the Contact Center industry. In the conducted study, Contact Center voice and text channels were considered, taking into account the following families of emotions: anger, fear, happiness, sadness vs. affective neutrality of the statements. The obtained results confirmed the usefulness of the proposed classification-for the voice channel, the highest efficiency was obtained using the Convolutional Neural Network (accuracy, 67.5%; precision, 80.3; F1-Score, 74.5%), while for the text channel, the Support Vector Machine algorithm proved to be the most efficient (accuracy, 65.9%; precision, 58.5; F1-Score, 61.7%).

Using Emoji in Response to Customer Reservation Requests and Service Reviews

The use of paralinguistic cues—including emoji—in computer-mediated communication has become prevalent in recent years. Brands and service providers have also been using these cues in their communication strategies. And yet, research examining how such emoji use influences customers’ perception and behavior is still scarce. In two experiments (combined $N=401$ ), we tested if using emoji to reply to a customer request (restaurant reservation, Study 1) or online review (hotel experience, Study 2) influenced perceptions of the brands. The emoji used by the brand was always congruent with the valence of the situation. Results from both studies revealed that the presence (vs. absence) of emoji influenced consumers’ perception of the brand/service at several levels. Specifically, the restaurant/hotel was perceived to have a more informal communication style, have a warmer service, and be more modern. In Study 1, we also observed that emoji use had a positive impact on competence perception and reservation intentions. Importantly, these effects of emoji use were not moderated by the valence of the situation. Taken together, our results showed that emoji can influence different perceptions about brands and services and determine how customers relate to brands.

Emoji use in China: popularity patterns and changes due to COVID-19

Emojis are small pictograms that are frequently embedded within micro-texts to more directly express emotional meanings. To understand the changes in the emoji usage of internet users during the COVID-19 outbreak, we analysed a large dataset collected from Weibo, the most popular Twitter-like social media platform in China, from December 1, 2019, to March 20, 2020. The data contained 38,183,194 microblog posts published by 2,239,472 unique users in Wuhan. We calculated the basic statistics of users’ usage of emojis, topics, and sentiments and analysed the temporal patterns of emoji occurrence. After examining the emoji co-occurrence structure, we finally explored other factors that may affect individual emoji usage. We found that the COVID-19 outbreak greatly changed the pattern of emoji usage; i.e., both the proportion of posts containing emojis and the ratio of users using emojis declined substantially, while the number of posts remained the same. The daily proportion of Happy emojis significantly declined to approximately 32%, but the proportions of Sad- and Encouraging-related emojis rose to 24% and 34%, respectively. Despite a significant decrease in the number of nodes and edges in the emoji co-occurrence network, the average degree of the network increased from 34 to 39.8, indicating that the diversity of emoji usage increased. Most interestingly, we found that male users were more inclined towards using regular textual language with fewer emojis after the pandemic, suggesting that during public crises, male groups appeared to control their emotional display. In summary, the COVID-19 pandemic remarkably impacted individual sentiments, and the normal pattern of emoji usage tends to change significantly following a public emergency.

What Makes Consumers' Intention to Purchase Paid Stickers in Personal Messenger? The Role of Personality and Motivational Factors

Many messengers and social networking services (SNSs) use emojis and stickers as a means of communication. Stickers express individual emotions well, allowing long texts to be replaced with small pictures. As the use of stickers increased, stickers were commercialized on a few platforms and showed remarkable growth as people bought and used stickers with their favorite characters, products, or entertainers online. Depending on their personality, individuals have different motivations for using stickers that determine the usefulness and enjoyment of stickers, affecting their purchase decisions. In the present study, participants (n = 302) who were randomly recruited from a university completed an online questionnaire assessing the Big Five personality characteristics, motivations for using stickers, and the technology acceptance model (TAM). Results using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) revealed that each personality trait affected different motivations for using stickers. Moreover, motivations for using stickers also influenced different technology acceptance variables. Finally, perceived usefulness, enjoyment, and ease of use had a positive effect on the intention to purchase stickers. This study has implications in that it is an exploratory approach to the intention to purchase stickers, which has been investigated by few prior studies, and it sheds light on the relationship between personality, motivation, and TAM in purchasing stickers. It also suggests that personality and motivation factors can be considered in personalized recommendation services.

Color Affects Recognition of Emoticon Expressions

In computer-mediated communication, emoticons are conventionally rendered in yellow. Previous studies demonstrated that colors evoke certain affective meanings, and face color modulates perceived emotion. We investigated whether color variation affects the recognition of emoticon expressions. Japanese participants were presented with emoticons depicting four basic emotions (Happy, Sad, Angry, Surprised) and a Neutral expression, each rendered in eight colors. Four conditions (E1-E4) were employed in the lab-based experiment; E5, with an additional participant sample, was an online replication of the critical E4. In E1, colored emoticons were categorized in a 5AFC task. In E2-E5, stimulus affective meaning was assessed using visual scales with anchors corresponding to each emotion. The conditions varied in stimulus arrays: E2: light gray emoticons; E3: colored circles; E4 and E5: colored emoticons. The affective meaning of Angry and Sad emoticons was found to be stronger when conferred in warm and cool colors, respectively, the pattern highly consistent between E4 and E5. The affective meaning of colored emoticons is regressed to that of achromatic expression counterparts and decontextualized color. The findings provide evidence that affective congruency of the emoticon expression and the color it is rendered in facilitates recognition of the depicted emotion, augmenting the conveyed emotional message.

The Role of Emoticons in the Comprehension of Emotional and Non-emotional Messages in Dyslexic Youth - A Preliminary Study

The study explored how well-dyslexic youth deals with written messages in an environment simulating popular social network communication system. The messaging systems, present more and more in pandemic and post-pandemic online world, are rich in nonverbal aspects of communicating, namely, the emoticons. The pertinent question was whether the presence of emoticons in written messages of emotional and non-emotional content changes the comprehension of the messages. Thirty-two pupils aged 11–15 took part in the study, 16 had a school-approved diagnosis of dyslexia and were included in the experimental group. Sixteen controls had no diagnosed disabilities. Both groups viewed short messages of four types (each including seven communicates): verbal-informative (without emoticons and emotional verbal content), verbal-emotive (without emoticons, with emotional verbal content), emoticon-informative (including emoticon-like small pictures, but without emotional content either verbal or nonverbal), and emoticon-emotive (with standard emoticons and including verbal-emotional content). The participants had to answer short questions after quick presentation of each message that tested their comprehension of the content. RTs and accuracy of the answers were analyzed. Students without dyslexia had shorter response times to the questions regarding all types of messages than the dyslexic participants. The answers of the experimental group to the questions about the emoticon-informative messages were less correct. The study pointed tentatively to the beneficial role of emoticons (especially the nonstandard, i.e., of non-emotional kind) in reading short messages with understanding.

Emotional Contagion: A Brief Overview and Future Directions

Social interactions can trigger emotional contagion between individuals resulting in behavioral synchrony. Emotional contagion can be a very effective and attractive strategy in communication and advertising, and understanding the mechanisms underlying emotional contagion can help marketers to improve their commercial approaches or develop better ones. The purpose of this study is to review and classify the various methodologies and theoretical approaches on emotional contagion, identify the best practices in this domain, and identify ways of gaging and measuring emotional contagion. The study is based on a mini literature review. We identify different mechanisms and approaches to emotional contagion described in the literature. Emotional contagion can be triggered by facial expressions, indirect human interactions, and/or by observing other people's behavior in direct and indirect interactions. Furthermore, emotional contagion can be triggered physiologically or neurologically by synchronizing with the emotional state of others during human interactions. Regarding the assessment and measurement of emotional contagion, we argue that methods based on neuroscience tools are much more accurate and effective than methods based on traditional research approaches. The study identifies guidelines for research on commercial communication through emotional contagion that can be especially interesting for academia and marketing practitioners. The findings are important for field marketers interested in developing new individualized approaches in their commercial strategies and marketing in general. In addition, the study can become the basis of research that further refines and compares the efficacy of the various techniques and tools involved.

Physiological and affective responses to emoji faces: Effects on facial muscle activity, skin conductance, heart rate, and self-reported affect

The objective of the present study was to evaluate emotional responses to emoji faces through physiological and self-report measures, and evaluate possible differences between men and women. One hundred participants (50 women) observed pictures of happy, neutral, and angry emoji faces, while activity of the zygomatic and corrugator muscles, skin conductance, and heart rate were measured. Self-report measures of emotional experience were also recorded. The results showed an increase in zygomatic muscle activity toward happy emoji faces. An increasing trend in corrugator muscle activity toward angry emoji faces was observed; however, this trend was only marginally significant. Happy emoji faces generated an increase in the skin conductance response. The emotional experience of the participants was also consistent with the emotions that were expressed by the emoji faces. No differences were found between sexes. Overall, the results suggest that emoji faces can especially induce pleasant affective states.

Do You Get What I Mean?!? The Undesirable Outcomes of (Ab)Using Paralinguistic Cues in Computer-Mediated Communication

The shift to working from home, which has intensified due to Covid-19, increased our reliance on communication technology and the need to communicate effectively via computer-mediated communication and especially via text. Paralinguistic cues, such as repeated punctuation, are used to compensate for the lack of non-verbal cues in text-based formats. However, it is unclear whether these cues indeed bridge the potential gap between the writer's intentions and the reader's interpretations. A pilot study and two experiments investigated the effect of using repeated punctuation on behavioral intention to assist an email writer in a work-related situation. Findings demonstrate that while the intentions behind using repeated punctuation relate to signaling situational importance or affective state, behavioral intentions are driven by dispositional rather than situational attributions. Specifically, the use of repeated punctuation reduces perceived competence of the message writer and consequently decreases positive behavioral intentions. Overall, the study challenges the simplified view of paralinguistic cues as communication facilitators, highlighting their potential harmful effects on impression formation and behavioral intentions in the digital age.

Emoji as Affective Symbols: Affective Judgments of Emoji, Emoticons, and Human Faces Varying in Emotional Content

An important function of emoji as communicative symbols is to convey emotional content from sender to receiver in computer-mediated communication, e. g., WhatsApp. However, compared with real faces, pictures or words, many emoji are ambiguous because they do not symbolize a discrete emotion or feeling state. Thus, their meaning relies on the context of the message in which they are embedded. Previous studies investigated affective judgments of pictures, faces, and words suggesting that these stimuli show a typical distribution along the big two emotion dimensions of valence and arousal. Also, emoji and emoticons have been investigated recently for their affective significance. The present study extends previous research by investigating affective ratings of emoji, emoticons and human faces and by direct comparison between them. In total, 60 stimuli have been rated by 83 participants (eight males, age: 18–49 years), using the non-verbal Self-Assessment Manikin Scales for valence and arousal. The emotionality of the stimuli was measured on a 9-point Likert scale. The results show significant main effects of the factors “stimulus category” and “discrete emotion” including emotionality, valence and arousal. Also, the interaction between these two main factors was significant. Emoji elicited highest arousal, whereas stimuli related to happiness were rated highest in valence across stimulus categories. Angry emoji were rated highest in emotionality. Also, the discrete emotion was best recognized in emoji, followed by human face stimuli and lastly emoticons.

A Literature Review Comparing Clinicians' Approaches and Skills to In-Person, Synchronous, and Asynchronous Care: Moving Toward Competencies to Ensure Quality Care

Introduction: Research is increasing on asynchronous technologies used by specialist clinicians and primary care, including e-mail, text, e-consultation, and store-and-forward (asynchronous) options. Studies typically describe interventions and care outcomes rather than development of clinical skills for using technology. Methods: This article attempts to compare clinicians' approaches to, and skills for, asynchronous technologies versus in-person and synchronous (i.e., video) care. Literature from technology, health care, pedagogy, and business were searched from 2000 to 2019 for title words, including synchronous (e.g., video, telemental or behavioral health, telepsychiatry), asynchronous (e.g., app, e-consultation, e-mail, text, sensor in a wearable device), education, clinical, and consultation. Results: From a total of 4,812 potential references, two authors (D.M.H., J.T.) found 4,622 eligible for full text review and found 381 articles directly relevant to the concept areas in combination for full text review. However, exclusion criteria subtracted 305, leaving a total of 76 articles. While in-person and synchronous care are similar in many ways, the clinical approach to asynchronous care has many differences. As asynchronous technologies and models of care are feasible and effective, often for consultation, an outline of patient, primary care provider, and specialist clinician goals and skills are presented. Few studies specifically discuss skills or competencies for asynchronous care, but components from published clinical informatics, video, social media, and mobile health competencies were organized into Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education domains. Conclusions: Further implementation of science research is needed for asynchronous technology interventions, as well as clinician competencies using asynchronous technologies, to ensure optimal outcomes for patients in health care.

Relational processes and psychological adjustment among young adults with cancer: The role of technology-related communication

OBJECTIVE

Little attention has been paid to understanding how engaging in cancer-related interpersonal exchanges via varying modes of communication influences psychological well-being among young adults with cancer. This study explored the moderating role of communication mode on the relationship of relational processes of disclosure and responsiveness with psychological well-being.

METHODS

61 young adults with cancer (M_age = 34.59, SD = 4.82) completed a questionnaire about their most recent cancer-related conversation. Participants reported on communication mode (ie, face-to-face, text message, and phone call) and relational processes of self- and support member- disclosure of thoughts, information, and feelings and how accepted, cared for, and understood they felt within the cancer-related conversation. Cancer adjustment measures included functional well-being and depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

There were no main effects of communication mode or relational processes. However, communication mode did moderate the relationship between relational processes and cancer adjustment. Greater relational processes of disclosure and responsiveness were associated with better functional well-being and lower depressive symptoms only among those who engaged in their most recent cancer-related conversation through technology-related communication and not for those engaged in face-to-face communication.

CONCLUSION

Relational processes that are likely to benefit psychological adjustment after cancer appear to be particularly advantageous over technology-based communication. Young adults commonly report feelings of social isolation and psychological distress after cancer. These findings suggest that technology-related communication holds promise as a way to strengthen support-related communication and protect against distress.

A Systematic Review of Emoji: Current Research and Future Perspectives

A growing body of research explores emoji, which are visual symbols in computer mediated communication (CMC). In the 20 years since the first set of emoji was released, research on it has been on the increase, albeit in a variety of directions. We reviewed the extant body of research on emoji and noted the development, usage, function, and application of emoji. In this review article, we provide a systematic review of the extant body of work on emoji, reviewing how they have developed, how they are used differently, what functions they have and what research has been conducted on them in different domains. Furthermore, we summarize directions for future research on this topic.

The Dual Processing of Donation Size in Cause-Related Marketing (CRM): The Moderating Roles of Construal Level and Emoticons

Donation size is known to be one of the factors that determines the success of cause-related marketing (CRM), which is the most practical form of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Although various studies have investigated the influence of donation size on CRM, they have not shown clear results. In addition, no research has examined the mechanism of how consumers process donation-size information. In this study, we examined the effect of donation size on consumer responses, focusing on the differences in perceived benefits and perceived monetary sacrifice according to the construal level. Furthermore, we investigated the role of emoticons as a way to increase the intention to participate in CRM by lowering the consumers’ perceptions of monetary sacrifice. Study 1 showed that for consumers with a higher construal level who perceive donation size as benefits, donation size had positive effects on consumer responses, whereas for those with a lower construal level who perceive donation size as monetary sacrifice, it had negative effects on their responses. Study 2 showed that emoticons attenuated the interaction effect of donation size and construal level. Finally, the implications of this study are discussed.

Smile Mimicry and Emotional Contagion in Audio-Visual Computer-Mediated Communication

We investigate whether smile mimicry and emotional contagion are evident in non-text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC). Via an ostensibly real-time audio-visual CMC platform, participants interacted with a confederate who either smiled radiantly or displayed a neutral expression throughout the interaction. Automatic analyses of expressions displayed by participants indicated that smile mimicry was at play: A higher level of activation of the facial muscle that characterizes genuine smiles was observed among participants who interacted with the smiling confederate than among participants who interacted with the unexpressive confederate. However, there was no difference in the self-reported level of joviality between participants in the two conditions. Our findings demonstrate that people mimic smiles in audio-visual CMC, but that even though the diffusion of emotions has been documented in text-based CMC in previous studies, we find no convincing support for the phenomenon of emotional contagion in non-text-based CMC.

Mood Detection in Ambiguous Messages: The Interaction Between Text and Emoticons

Face-to-face communication has several sources of contextual information that enables language comprehension. This information is used, for instance, to perceive mood of interlocutors, clarifying ambiguous messages. However, these contextual cues are absent in text-based communication. Emoticons have been proposed as cues used to stress the emotional intentions on this channel of communication. Most studies have suggested that their role is to contribute to a more accurate perception of emotions. Nevertheless, it is not clear if their influence on disambiguation is independent of their emotional valence and its interaction with text message valence. In the present study, we designed an emotional congruence paradigm, where participants read a set of messages composed by a positive or negative emotional situation sentence followed by a positive or negative emoticon. Participants were instructed to indicate if the sender was in a good or bad mood. With the aim of analyzing the disambiguation process and observing if the role of the emoticons in disambiguation is different according their valence, we measure the rate of responses of perceived mood and the reaction times (RTs) for each condition. Our results showed that the perceived mood in ambiguous messages tends to be more negative regardless of emotion valence. Nonetheless, we observed that this tendency was not the same for positive and negative emoticons. Specifically, negative mood perception was higher for incongruent positive emoticons. On the other hand, RTs for positive emoticons were faster than for the negative ones. Responses for incongruent messages were slower than for the congruent ones. However, the incongruent condition showed different RTs depending on the emoticons' valence. In the incongruent condition, responses for negative emoticons was the slowest. Results are discussed taking into account previous observations about the potential role of emoticons in mood perception and cognitive processing. We concluded that the role of emoticons in disambiguation and mood perception is due to the interaction of emoticon valence with the entire message.