Exploring horizontal valence-space effects on valence evaluations of emoji stimuli

Emoji are a pervasive aspect of online communication, and widely cited to support emotional aspects of communication. We explored the extent to which spatial properties of emoji might impact valence evaluations, to more fully determine whether we implicitly embody emoji in a similar way to other emotional-laden stimuli. We used the Emoji Spatial Stroop Task to explore spatial iconicity effects based on horizontal positioning of emoji. Emoji stimuli were presented in three horizontal positions in which participants (N = 121) made a valence evaluation. A 2 (emoji valence; positive, negative) x 3 (horizontal position; left, central, right) within-participants design was used to determine the impacts of emoji valence and position on accuracy and latency of valence evaluations. Responses were analysed in a 2x3 mixed effects binary regression with emoji valence and spatial congruency as fixed effects. No main or interaction effects of emoji valence and spatial congruence were observed. Our findings therefore add to the growing body of evidence which challenges the notion that we embody and process emoji in an equivalent way to other emotional stimuli.