Cross-Cultural Differences in Emoji-Based Emotional Expression: A Comparative Study of Japanese and American University Students

Author Information

Nami Takase, Shizuoka University, Japan
Keiko Ochi, Kyoto University, Japan
Tetsuya Nakamura, Tohoku Bunka Gakuen University, Japan
Maya Kobayashi, Kokushikan University, Japan

Abstract

Emojis are commonly used to express emotions online, but their meanings can vary across cultures. This study examines how Japanese university students use emojis to represent emotions and compares their choices with those of U.S. students. A total of 91 Japanese and 141 American students selected emojis for 32 emotions taken from an English dialogue dataset (Rashkin et al., 2019). The results revealed clear cross-cultural differences, particularly for relational or context-dependent emotions such as impressed, grateful, caring, lonely, disappointed, and terrified. By contrast, some visually salient emotions, including proud and confident, were represented by similar emojis across both groups. Additionally, several emojis were used to represent multiple emotions, indicating that emoji meanings may overlap and are shaped by cultural context. These findings suggest that although certain emotional expressions exhibit cross-cultural similarity, emoji interpretation and usage remain embedded within culturally influenced communicative norms.

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