Research links emoji use to narcissism

People who use a lot of emojis in messages or social media posts could be more narcissistic than average. This is according to a new study from Oklahoma State University, published in the scientific journal Current Psychology .

Emojis have become an integral part of digital communication. However, their use varies greatly from person to person. Some people use them sparingly, others add multiple symbols to each sentence. What does that say about your personality? Researchers investigated and found clear connections.

The study participants indicated how often they use 40 common emojis in different digital contexts: in text messages, in their own social media posts and in comments on posts by others.

At the same time, they filled out questionnaires that mapped out their personality traits. The so-called Big Five (openness, extraversion, friendliness, orderliness and emotional stability) were examined, but also the Dark Triad : three socially less desirable traits. These are narcissism , Machiavellianism (a fancy word for strategic, manipulative behaviour) and psychopathy, recognisable by a lack of empathy and unscrupulous behaviour.

The main finding: people who score high on narcissism use emojis more often. According to the researchers, this may be because emojis are used as a means to impress or create a certain image of yourself. Something that fits well with narcissistic personality traits.

In the study, women reported using emojis more often than men. This was true for both positive and negative symbols. Women also used emojis more often in different contexts: in text messages, in social media posts and in responses to others.

The researchers saw different patterns in men. They used more emojis if they scored high on Machiavellianism. In addition, men with higher neuroticism (sensitivity to stress and emotional instability) appeared to use negative emojis more often, such as sad or angry faces.

Other personality traits were also associated with emoji use. Extroverts tend to use more emojis than introverts. Men with a high need for stimulation and women who are open to new experiences also scored higher in emoji use.

Still, narcissism in women and Machiavellianism in men were the strongest predictors of frequent emoji use, the researchers said.

The study suggests that emojis are an important part of how people present themselves in digital communications . Especially for people with certain personality traits, they seem to play a role in managing their image.

The results say nothing about individual cases, but they do show that there are structural patterns in how people use emojis and what that can say about them.

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