This will introduce the pervasiveness of emoji in 21st society and indicate the scholarly interest which has been afforded to them. Within this, the chapter will provide a brief overview of key insights on the psychological study in broad terms, and indicate where the current limitations of understanding reside. This will outline the distinction between sender vs receiver functions of emoji and justify why the latter of these requires significant attention, to rationalise the purpose of the book. Within this, I will outline how this helps us answer certain questions of interest. Introductory material will also make reference to what we mean by “processing” as this is a strong element of the book. This will refer to its meaning in cognitive psychology, as well as social cognition and interpersonal processing. Following this, this chapter will then provide a summary of how psychologists have studied emoji in respect of emotion, cognition and behaviour to illustrate how these are widely distributed across psychological sub-disciplines, making synthesise of understanding rather challenging. This chapter will finalise with a summary of how each chapter will help the reader navigate the question about how we process emoji through conceptual, theoretical and methodological lenses.

This chapter will provide a review of the range of approaches psychological researchers have used when understanding how we process emoji. This will provide an overview of the main principles of these approaches, the types of research questions these approaches have addressed and the relevant insights gained. Within this, these will given illustrative studies as case examples to provide concrete examples to help the reader understand the way these conceptual approaches have been operationalised. The chapter is anticipated to conclude with a summary of key take-away points which synthesise what approaches might be best suited to understanding different types of questions about how we process emoji.

This chapter will provide a review of specific theoretical frameworks which might be best suited to understand key mechanisms of specific elements of processes in the psychological study of emoji. This is distinctive from Chapter 2 in respect of identifying specific theories rather than broader approaches, to explain how the features of these theoretical frameworks might be operationalised within research to address certain research questions and used within certain paradigms. The chapter will conclude with a summary of key take-away points which synthesise what theoretical framework might be best suited to understanding different types of questions about how we process emoji.