Is That a Genuine Smile? Emoji-Based Sarcasm Interpretation Across the Lifespan

ABSTRACT

Emoji appear to be an important cue to judge whether a statement is sarcastic in computer-mediated communication. In this study, we investigated whether the smiling emoji, an indicator of sarcastic intention in the Chinese culture, exerts an influence on sarcasm interpretation across the lifespan. Statements accompanied with or without a smiling emoji were compared in unambiguous (Experiment 1) and ambiguous (Experiment 2) contexts. The results of Experiment 1 illustrated that for teenagers and the 20-year-olds the smiling emoji enhanced the perceived sarcasm of sarcastic statements significantly. However, there was no difference in interpreting sarcastic statements with or without a smiling emoji in other age groups. Experiment 2 replicated the results of Experiment 1. We found both teenagers and the 20-year-olds were more likely to arrive at a sarcastic interpretation of the ambiguous statement followed by a smiling emoji, which were less frequent in participants aged in their 30s, 40s, 50s and individuals over 60 years old. This might be because people of varying ages differ in decoding the emotions of the emoji. Age-related differences in the use of sarcasm and participants’ experiences with using emoji might be possible factors that were closely related to the interpretation of emoji-based sarcasm.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Yu R. Dandan at SCALab-Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, CNRS, UMR 9193, University of Lille for her important contributions to this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ The WeChat app is the most popular instant messaging product in China, and it has become an integral component of Chinese people’s personal life. Till August 2021, there were over 1.25 billion monthly active users.

² Speechlessness means the state of not bothering to say anything when one cannot understand other people’s extreme words or behavior.

Additional information

Funding

This work has supported by the Project of Social Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province in 2021 “ERP Studies on the Neurocognitive Mechanism of Chinese Verbal Irony Processing” (No.: 21YYB006).