Influence of Emojis on Online Trust Among College Students

Psychological Traditionality and Modernity and Happiness: The Different Happiness Levels in Chinese Students

The conceptualization of happiness varies across different cultures. In Chinese culture, happiness includes oneself and hinges on others. Chinese social development has influenced psychological traditionality (PT), psychological modernity (PM), and personal happiness. Our study recruited 450 participants to examine the different happiness levels in Chinese students with diverse PT and PM. The results indicate that individuals scoring higher in PT and PM reported higher life satisfaction. Moreover, individuals scoring higher in PT reported more positive emotions, fewer negative emotions, and greater social well-being, while those scoring higher in PM reported more negative emotions and greater relationship happiness. The happiness of Chinese students comprised individual, relational, and societal levels and happiness at different levels related to Chinese PT and PM. The present study may promote cross-cultural understanding and potentially inform interventions for individual happiness within positive psychology.

The Role of Prosocial Behaviour, Personality and General Mental Health in Predicting Emoji Use and Preference

Emojis are prevalent in text-based communication, but the factors that influence our use and preference for emojis remains unclear. This study investigated how emoji use and preference could be explained by three factors; mental health, personality and prosocial behaviour. A questionnaire consisting of five measures was completed by 222 participants and both Pearson correlations and multiple regressions were conducted on the data. The results showed prosocial behaviour significantly related to frequency, attitudes and motivations towards emoji use as well as to positive emoji preference. Agreeableness related to the frequency of emoji use. Extraversion related to both positive and negative emoji preference while conscientiousness and emotional stability significantly related to negative emoji preference only. General mental health significantly related to negative emoji preference. The regressions found all of the factors identified in the correlations predicted emoji use and preference with the exception of extraversion. Further research is needed to explore how the impact of the emotions depicted by emojis on these factors and to investigate how emojis are used by people with specific mental health conditions.