Emojis and Exclamation Points: Men’s Expressiveness and Subsequent Evaluation in Interpersonal Mobile Communication

Abstract

Increased text messaging across relationships is well-documented, but little research explores how texting style impacts initial impressions of gender/sexuality. Extended research demonstrating that some men avoid expressive forms of communication in order to appear masculine, this project explores whether expressive text messaging (frequent emoji usage and exclamation points) is likely to decrease perceptions of masculinity and/or heterosexuality among male-identified confederates. In a 2 x 2 experiment (expressiveness by confederate sex), participants texted with an unknown interaction partner and rated conversational qualities and perceived attributions about the masculinity/heterosexuality of those confederates. While participants preferred interacting with more expressive partners, there were significant impacts upon ratings of partners’ gender and sexual orientations. Results have implications for men’s development of interpersonal relationships with unknown others.