Husband can’t read your mood? New research shows he’s more likely to understand an emoji
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Man can’t read your mood? Send him an emoji, because new research shows he’s more likely to understand that than a real facial expression
- Research shows that men are more attuned to an emoji than to real facial expressions
- Women, on the other hand, are more attuned to expressions on a person’s face
Picking up on subtle changes in a partner’s mood has never really been men’s forte.
But now new research shows they’re so bad at it they’re more likely to understand an emoji than a real facial expression.
Women, on the other hand, are more attuned to what a person’s face actually tells them.
Previous studies have shown that men are more adept at expressing emotions such as anger, lust or fear through smartphone messages than in person.
For the latest study, psychologists at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Milan, Italy, wanted to see if this extended to the use of emoticons — images designed to express how the person is feeling.
New research shows that men are more likely to understand an emoji than a real facial expression
With the rise of digital communication, these have become a popular way to represent rushed moods.
They are meant to compensate for the lack of non-verbal cues such as facial expression, body language, or tone of voice.
Researchers recruited 96 male and female college students and had them look briefly — no longer than two seconds at a time — at pictures of a man and a woman with facial expressions ranging from happy or surprised to angry and disgusted.
They were asked to document what they thought each image meant.
The exercise was then repeated with dozens of different emoticons, such as a frowning red face to represent anger, or a sad face with a tear from one eye to represent sadness.
The results, published in the journal Behavioral Science, showed that men were much better at correctly judging emoticons than facial expressions, especially when it came to negative feelings such as anger, sadness and disgust.
But the women found it much easier to judge someone’s feelings by the look on their face.
With the rise of digital communication, emojis have become a popular way to represent rushed moods
Scientists think men prefer digital images because it’s less ambiguous than the real thing, making it easier for them to interpret correctly.
In a report on their findings, researchers said, “Men have a greater tendency to express their emotions through messages in cyberspace.
‘But women react more strongly when viewing images with people and show more empathy.’