MOTIVATION BEHIND EMOJI USAGE IN PAKISTANI YOUNG ADULTS AND ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

Emojis are now often used in technology-mediated communication and are a component of individuals' everyday expressiveness. However, few scientifically sound research studies concentrate on the effects of emoji usage on people. Therefore, this study is aimed to access the motivation behind emoji usage in Pakistani adolescents and young adults. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant difference between Pakistani adolescents and young adults. It was also hypothesized that there would be a significant gender-based difference between Pakistani adolescents and young adults. In this cross- sectional study a sample of 250 adolescents (125 boys & 125 girls) with an age range of 13 to 19 (M=16, SD=1.78) years and 250 young adults (125 men & 125 women) with an age range of 20 to 29 (M= 22, SD=1.50) years, was selected from different private and government educational institutes of Lahore, Pakistan through convenient sampling. Participants responded to the Demographic information sheet, and self-developed questionnaire on the Motivation behind emoji usage consisted of two subscales effective communication and emotional expression. Multivariate analysis of variation MANOVA revealed that there was a significant difference in emoji usage among Pakistani adolescents and young adults but no significant gender-based difference was reported. The results of the study challenge the previous assumptions about gender differences in communication preferences by suggesting that no significant gender difference occurs in motivational factors behind emoji usage in Pakistani culture.