Does Black Heart Really Mean Sadness for X (formerly Twitter) Users? Affective properties for 109 emojis

The present study investigates subjective norms associated with 109 emojis in terms of valence and emotion in eight dimensions including; anger, anticipation, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, surprise, and trust. A sample of 200 X users (140 females; 27.3 ± 3.5) was recruited to voluntarily participate in a web-based survey.Ratings indicated that emojis eliciting joy or trust were associated with positive valence, while those evoking disgust were linked to negative valence, showing a high level of agreement in these emotional responses. Anticipation-related emojis were also perceived positively, whereas sadness, fear, anger, and surprise did not show significant valence differences. Emojis inducing joy often featured elements like hearts and smiles, while trust-related emojis predominantly displayed hands and green colors. The anticipation-related emojis featured by directional symbols. Disgust-associated emojis, marked by narrowed eyes and raised lips. Anger emojis featured intense expressions and the color red, while sadness emojis included elements like crying faces and broken hearts. Gender differences revealed that women rated emotional intensity higher across all dimensions compared to men (p<0.05) indicating heightened female sensitivity to affective stimuli. Additionally, emojis from all categories, except symbols, were found to be more likely to induce positive valence. This database could serve as a valuable resource for studies analyzing the sentiment of text containing emojis posted on social media, as well as for practical research using emojis as cues to provoke specific behaviors (e.g., in marketing, education)