Autism, Attachment, and Alexithymia: Investigating Emoji Comprehension

Taylor, Hannah; Hand, Christopher J; Howman, Hannah; Filik, Ruth

Abstract

Emoji are often misinterpreted. This study investigated whether individual differences known to impact facial emotion recognition would also affect emoji recognition. Participants completed an online emoji classification task, and then completed questionnaires assessing their autistic traits, attachment style, and alexithymia score. Results showed that Autism Quotient (AQ) scores influenced classification accuracy, but only when considered in conjunction with alexithymia and attachment anxiety. Accuracy was poorer when AQ scores and alexithymia scores were both high, whereas high attachment anxiety boosted emotion recognition in participants with high AQ scores. Results highlight the importance of studying individual differences factors concomitantly, allowing for more accurate identification of individuals who may be at risk of emotional miscommunication online, and are therefore suitable targets for support or intervention. Furthermore, findings will be informative for designers of digital tools that are used to convey emotion.

Citation

Taylor, H., Hand, C. J., Howman, H., & Filik, R. (2024). Autism, Attachment, and Alexithymia: Investigating Emoji Comprehension. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 40(9), 2211-2224. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2022.2154890

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 30, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Dec 22, 2022
• Publication Date: May 2, 2024
• Deposit Date: Dec 1, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 23, 2023
• Journal: International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction
• Print ISSN: 1044-7318
• Electronic ISSN: 1532-7590
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 40
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 2211-2224
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2022.2154890
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/14316599
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10447318.2022.2154890