University study finds that; People who use many emojis in online dating profiles are perceived as less intelligent

Using lots of emojis in an online dating profile can turn potential matches away, according to a research project by a student at MacEwan University.

Darcy Raymond, a 26-year-old psychology student who graduates this spring, ran an exploratory study examining whether emoji use in dating profiles had an effect on perceived intelligence.

The experiment included seven types of profiles for participants to evaluate. One of them, the control, contained no emojis. Another consisted almost entirely of emojis. In the rest, emojis were used sparingly, randomly, redundantly and to replace words.

Each of 692 participants received one randomly assigned profile. Participants were asked to rate the profile owners’ traits, including intelligence, and indicate their level of interest in dating the person.

The clear loser in this contest was the profile with 14 emojis sprinkled throughout the short text. It was rated significantly less intelligent than the control group or any other profile type.

Men and women also tended to give this profile fewer “impressed” ratings and said they were less interested in dating that person.

The study didn’t try to determine why people associated excessive emoji use with lower intelligence, but Lynne Honey, the chair of MacEwan’s psychology department and Raymond’s faculty advisor for the project.

Drawbacks
The study did have several limitations, including a large imbalance between the number of male (182) and female (510) participants.

The average age of those participants was 20.17 years old, so results can’t be compared across generations.

Since older adults tend to have different expectations and preferences in mate choice than younger adults, it’s likely they respond differently to emoji use as well.