Emoji-SP, the Spanish emoji database: Visual complexity, familiarity, frequency of use, clarity, and emotional valence and arousal norms for 1031 emojis

Abstract

This article presents subjective norms for 1031 emojis in six dimensions: visual complexity, familiarity, frequency of use, clarity, emotional valence, and emotional arousal. This is the largest normative study conducted so far that relies on subjective ratings. Unlike the few existing normative studies, which mainly comprise face emojis, here we present a wide range of emoji categories. We also examine the correlations between the dimensions assessed. Our results show that, in terms of their affective properties, emojis are analogous to other stimuli, such as words, showing the expected U-shaped relationship between valence and arousal. The relationship between affective properties and other dimensions (e.g., between valence and familiarity) is also similar to the relationship observed in words, in the sense that positively valenced emojis are more familiar than negative ones. These findings suggest that emojis are suitable stimuli for studying affective processing. Emoji-SP will be highly valuable for researchers of various fields interested in emojis, including computer science, communication, linguistics, and psychology. The full set of norms is available at: https://osf.io/dtfjv/ .

Keywords: Clarity; Emoji; Emotional arousal; Emotional valence; Familiarity; Frequency of use; Normative study; Subjective ratings; Visual complexity.

Fig. 1

Example of an emoji with two meanings. Definitions were provided to participants in Spanish

Fig. 2

Distribution of the ratings of the assessed variables

Fig. 3

Relationship between the ratings of emotional arousal and emotional valence

Fig. 4

Examples of different versions of two emojis: Facebook emojis (on the left) and WhatsApp emojis (on the right)