A new study has found that people who use emojis in their text messages have more sex.

Researchers at the Kinsey Institute surveyed more than 5,000 singletons in the United States - around 30 per cent of whom said they regularly used emojis while talking with the people they were dating. The researchers conducted two different studies - one to see if " emoji/emoticon use was associated with ‘success’ in intimate connections", another "investigating whether the frequency of singles’ emojis use with potential dates relates to success in intimate connections". "Our findings suggest that emoji use with potential partners is associated with maintaining connection beyond the first date, and more romantic and sexual interactions over the previous year," researchers said. Participants said that they used emojis in their text messages at they felt it helped create a better outlet for self-expression rather than strictly text-based messages. They added that emojis allow people to "communicate important affective information" to possible future partners, which can help them establish "successful intimate connection and more romantic and sexual opportunities." However, the researchers noted that there was no way to determine "which emojis are most effective at helping to form connections between people" - and that there was more work that needed to be done around the topic. They said:

"We cannot determine whether more emoji use leads to more dates and sex or vice-versa, however, it is clear that there is a significant association. "While we might speculate that emoji use is an extended feature of those with traits that have been linked to better quality relationships, such as greater levels of emotional intelligence, future longitudinal studies will be able to more precisely answer this question."