Study: People who use more emojis have more dates and sex

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — Are you a frequent user of emojis?  It could be benefiting your love life.

Two related studies by the Kinsey Institute released Thursday found that more emoji use is connected to more first dates and ‘interpersonal relations’.

The studies found that with more people looking for relationships online, emojis help users of those platforms better express and interpret emotions delivered in an otherwise black-and-white medium.

“We find that the use of emojis allows daters to communicate important affective information to potential partners which facilitates successful intimate connection and more romantic and sexual opportunities,” researchers stated as part of their findings.

The first study, which questioned more than 5,000 respondents, found that people in their research who used emojis more often with a potential date went on more dates over the previous year.  That same study also found that more emojis often led to more sexual activity over that same time period.

The researchers warned that while it led to more first dates and more sexual activity, it was not an initial indicator of whether it led to a long-term relationship.

“In both cases of dating and sexual frequency, this suggests that emoji users are also engaging psychological courtship systems in their social interactions, and doing so with some degree of success,” researchers wrote. “These users are demonstrating that they are more emotive across the affect spectrum, which leads to more effective social interactions and interpersonal communication, and is associated with more romantic and sexual opportunities.”

Overall, the study found that nearly 30 percent of adult singles in the United States used emojis or emoticons regularly with dates.

The second study, which was a more narrow survey involving only 275 respondents but dug deeper into their relationships, however, found no correlation between emoji use and the number of first dates.

But, there was a connection between emoji use and the continuation of communications with a first date and sexual behavior.  The study also found that while it did not lead to more first dates, it did find that those who used emojis more often with potential partners before a first date were more likely to have intimate moments with that person.

The studies did not find out which emojis were most effective.