Is Emotional Expression Perceived? The Effect of Positive Emoji Position on Attentional Bias
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21736857 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Xuemeng Zhang (0000-0002-0815-5635, Chongqing Normal University), Yin Han (Chongqing Normal University, corresponding author), Zijie Tang (Chongqing Normal University), Xi Zhang (0009-0004-8281-1030, Chongqing Normal University), Xinran Zhang (0009-0008-0291-4486, Chongqing Normal University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-16 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-06 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Mass Communication & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1520-5436 • E-ISSN: 1532-7825 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/15205436.2026.2695144 |
| OpenAlex | W7167515395 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 72 |
Emojis play an essential role in online communication. This study aimed to investigate the effects of positive emoji presentation position on emotion perception and attentional bias. We presented positive text in combination with positive emoji, with participants assigned to emoji placed in either the mid-sentence group or the end-sentence group. Attentional bias toward positive versus negative emotional face pictures was measured using a dot-probe task. The results showed that participants perceived the text more pleasantly and exhibited greater attentional bias toward positive emotional face pictures when the positive emojis were placed in the middle of the sentence compared to the end. The study suggests that the location of positive emoji presentation significantly affects emotion perception, with mid-sentence placement more effectively facilitating positive emotion perception. Therefore, we recommend careful consideration of emoji positioning in social network expressions, AI verbal conversations, and online counseling techniques to enhance positive emotional communication
Attentional bias · Emoji · Emotional expression · Facial expression · Digital Communication and Language · Emotion and Mood Recognition · Emotions and Moral Behavior
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |