Ann Rumble, Ph.D. Johnnie M. Martin Ohio University-Chillicothe

1. Sarcasm in Computer-mediated Messages:Do Emoticons :) Help or Hurt Emotional and Behavioral Reactions to Non-literal Messages? Ann Rumble, Ph.D. Johnnie M. Martin Ohio University-Chillicothe 13th International Conference of Social Dilemmas August 24th, 2009

2. Strict Reciprocity • Reciprocity • Doing what the other person did the last time • Tit-for-Tat • Nice • Forgiving • Retaliatory • Clear • BUT… • TFT/strict reciprocity is a reactive strategy

3. A stumbling block of reciprocity • Reciprocity in noisy environments • What if unintentional noncooperation exists in an environment? • Robert Axelrod • Error/Noise is one of the most important factors in understanding how to resolve conflict at both mirco and macro levels • Simulations of uncertainty and noise • Strong evidence that both will increase noncooperation in social dilemmas (Bendor, 1993; Bendor, Kramer, & Stout, 1991; Kollock, 1993; Wu & Axelrod, 1996;Wu & Axelrod, 1997) • Behavioral data • Van Lange and colleagues have confirmed simulations results in behavioral experiments (Van Lange et al, 2002; Van Lange et al, 2003)

4. Rumble, Van Lange, & Parks, 2009 • Noise: F(1,114)=12.21, p=.001

5. What are real-world sources of noise that may interfere with cooperation? Communication channels in Cyberspace

6. “ The Internet is filled with junk and jerks… the signal-to noise ratio, it is said, is bad and getting worse.” Peter Kollock, in his chapter in Communites in Cyberspace, 1999

7. Growing and continued dependence on text or email messaging • As of August 2008, there were 1.3 billion e-mail users worldwide (Radicati Group). • 86% of the U.S. owns a cell phone and an estimated 75 billion text messages are sent each month • Used to communicate in multiple settings, such as, social networks, workplace, and academic settings

8. Sarcasm • Sarcasm-the non-literal use of language that can be verbally aggressive and directed at a specific target • Deciphering the meaning is facilitated through the use of non-verbal behaviors, and social-cultural stereotypes such as occupation, status, and gender of the sender (Katz, 2004) • Understanding sarcasm requires both the ability to understand the speaker’s belief about the listener’s belief and the ability to identify emotions (Shamay-Tsoory, S.G., Tomer, R.,& Aharon-Peretz, J.,2008 ) What happens if sarcasm is misunderstood?

9. Emoticons • Emotion can be shown in electronic messaging through the use of emoticons. • An emoticon is the merging of the words emotion and icon. • Examples: • :) Smile • ;-) Wink • :-( Sad • :-0 Surprise • :-@ Angry

10. Study 1: Do emoticons help or hurt emotional reactions to sarcastic email messages? • Hypothesis: Sarcasm can be misperceived in email communication which can lead to increases in negative feelings and decreased positive feelings, but emoticons may reduce these feelings • Participants • 80 OUC undergraduates • Independent variable: Message type and Emoticons • Dependent variables: Negative feelings and Positive feelings.

11. Sarcastic message

12. No Humor message

13. Main effect of message type

14. Impact of Emoticons in Sarcastic messages

15. Summary of Study 1 • Sarcasm increases negative feelings and reduces positive feelings in email messages compared to neutral messages • But, if emoticons are used the sarcastic message may be easier to decipher as humor, thus positive feelings increase and negative feelings decrease

16. Study 2: Do emoticons help or hurt behavioral reactions to sarcastic text messages? • Introduction of alternative communication channels during social dilemma task • Sarcasm may increase noncooperative behavior in a social dilemma, but the presence of emoticons may reduce this noncooperation • Participants • 58 OUC undergraduates • Independent variables: Message type and Emoticons • Dependent variable: Cooperative behavior and emotional reaction

17. Give Some Game • Participants were told they would interact with an unknown other on a task • All participants actually interacted during the social dilemma task with the pre-programmed strategy of tit-for-tat • Participants were told they would receive messages from the other person during the course of the task, but were not able to send them. • For each trial, the participant had 10 coins to either keep or give away; the participant’s coins are worth $0.50 to the participant, and $1.00 to the unknown other; the same was true for the unknown other. • As an incentive, participants were told that the amount of points they accumulated would determine their chances of receiving prizes.

18. Sarcastic Messages • Not the brightest crayon in the box now, are we? • I refuse to star in your psychodrama • Aw, did I step on your poor little bitty ego? • Is it time for your medication or mine?

19. Results: Emotional Reaction

20. Results: Cooperative Behavior

21. Summary of Study 2 • Noise from alternative channels may impact cooperative behavior • Emoticons do lessen the impact of sarcastic messages on emotions and cooperative behavior

22. Conclusion and future directions • Explore additional ways that noise may enter into a social dilemma • Methods for correcting the effect of noise • Cyberspace interactions need to be better understood to reduce the “signal to noise ratio”

23. Thank you to my junior co-author, texting guru, and long distance data analyzer! …who also happens to be my 17 year old daughter!

24. Sarcasm in Computer-mediated Messages:Do Emoticons :) Help or Hurt Emotional and Behavioral Reactions to Non-literal Messages? Ann Rumble, Ph.D. Johnnie M. Martin Ohio University-Chillicothe 13th International Conference of Social Dilemmas August 24th, 2009