The effects of perceived social status and context valence on the inference of message senders’ emotions and facial expressions from emojis

Contemporary smartphone users frequently exchange emoji-laden messages, often interpreting the sender's psychological intent through these symbols. This study examined how perceived social status (PSS) and emotional context valence affect the interpretation of emoji-based digital messages. Across three experiments, participants read messages containing crying or smiling emojis embedded in negative, neutral, or positive contexts. In Experiment 1, participants judged the similarity between the crying emoji and the sender's facial expression. In Experiments 2 and 3, they inferred whether the emoji matched the sender's actual feelings. Results showed that individuals with low-perceived social status were highly reactive to negative emotional contexts, often interpreting emojis as sarcastic or emotionally incongruent. In contrast, high-perceived social status individuals applied more stable interpretations across conditions. These patterns were observed across both crying (Experiment 2) and smiling (Experiment 3) emojis. These findings provide empirical support for the role of social status and emotional context in shaping the interpretation of emojis in ambiguous digital interactions. Conclusions offer valuable insights for theoretical and practical implications in interpersonal digital communication.