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Use of emojis is popular in text messages and on social media. Experts believe that those cute characters enable non-verbal communication and may reveal personality type of an individual.

A team of international researchers from Australia and the United Kingdom are calling on researchers to study the use of emojis. Dr Stephanie Malone, an Australian Catholic University researcher said that emojis can provide an insight into human behavior in this digital age.

While emojis are popular in text messages and social media, people are careful using them in email where they consider it as less appropriate. Reports said that 80 percent use emojis when texting, 76 percent on social media and only 15 percent in emails.

She added that in the absence of face-to-face interaction, emojis are being used to convey emotions in written text.

Malone added that it will be interesting to know if the brain processes emojis in the same way it does to facial expression. However, studying the use of emojis to reveal the personality of someone will be challenging, since a lot of usage happens in private conversation.

Last year a group of students were asked about their personality, self-esteem, anxiety level and self-image. They were also asked to list the common emojis they use in messages and social media. Researchers found out that those who rated themselves as pleasant or likeable were more likely to use emojis. Those who are not worried on how or what other people may say about them, are more likely to use sad emoticons.

Malone thinks that emojis can be used to support children with communication difficulties. It can be used to evaluate whether they understand the meaning of the written text.

Linda Kaye, lead analysts of researchers from Edge Hill University in United Kingdom, said that the brain lights up when looking at the emojis. People see something neurologically different that may reveal their personality type.