The key to solving your relationship problems may come

According to new research, emojis can improve relationships.

American scientists say using digital representations of emotions and thoughts in text and social media messages to improve intimacy and relationship satisfaction by supplementing face-to-face interactions.

Although emojis are very common in texting and social media, there has been no previous research on the potential of using them as a tool for building interpersonal relationships.

Researchers at the University of Texas-Austin investigate how emojis affect the era of online interaction dominance.

Participants included 260 adults, ranging in age from 23 to 67 years old, who were randomly assigned to read 15 text exchanges that changed only in the presence or absence of emojis in the text.

They are instructed to imagine themselves as the sender of each message and focus on their partner’s replies.

Participants rated partners who used emojis as more sensitive partners than those who communicated through text alone.

“This partner responsiveness used through emojis is positively correlated with intimacy and relationship satisfaction,” study author Sally Huh said.

“It is surprising that there is no significant difference between facial and non-face emojis, suggesting that the type of emojis may be less critical than previously assumed.

“Instead, it may be the presence of emojis that elicit perceptions of larger partner responses and better relationships.”

The design of the study, published in the journal PLOS One, focuses only on one partner in the inherent two-way relationship.

The researchers say the design helps isolate the effects of emojis on friendship dynamics, beyond relevant methods that dominate many of the existing literature.

They believe that the findings suggest that emojis can not only be used as devices for expressiveness, but also as signals of concentration and emotional participation.

Ms Huh added: “This study shows that emojis can improve relationship satisfaction through the emotional attention of the signal.

“It’s interesting that this is not the type of emoji, but just their presence brings people closer to their partner.”