Abstract
The sanitary-mask effect (Miyazaki and Kawahara in Jpn Psychol Res 58(3):261–272, 2016) is the finding that medical face masks prompt an image of disease and thus result in lower ratings of facial attractiveness of the wearer. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, medical masks have been found to increase attractiveness (Patel et al. in Plast Reconstruct Surg Glob Open 8(8), 2020) although this could have been a general effect of occlusion. To further explore this issue, female participants were presented with a series of male faces of low or high attractiveness that were occluded with a medical mask, cloth mask, book or not occluded and asked to rate them on attractiveness. The results show that faces were considered as most attractive when covered by medical masks and significantly more attractive when occluded with cloth masks than when not occluded. Contrary to expectation, base attractiveness did not interact with the type of occlusion, suggesting that this is not simply due to occlusion of negative features. The present findings are contrary to the sanitary-mask effect and explanations in terms of social desirability, and the association of medical masks with caregiving professions is explored.
Highlights
As a result of the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there has been a sharp increase in demand for protective face masks globally to prevent the spread of the virus
The advantage for occluded faces is consistent with the general finding that occlusion improves attractiveness (Sadr & Krowicki, 2019)
This finding is consistent with Patel et al.’s (2020) findings, which emphasise that medical masks increase facial attractiveness for unattractive and average faces
Summary
As a result of the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there has been a sharp increase in demand for protective face masks globally to prevent the spread of the virus. Despite concerns about masks eliciting a false-sense of security (Javid et al, 2020), research shows they are of paramount importance in helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19 (Howard et al, 2021), which is reflected in government policy worldwide. Evidence suggests wearing masks induces perceived discomfort, impairs vocal communication (Ribeiro et al, 2020), and may be a barrier to social interaction (Hung, 2018). Research shows masks impair recognition of emotions (Carbon, 2020), with participants reporting lower confidence and greater patterns of confusion. Research on side effects of masks has significant implications for day-to-day life, in which recognising emotions and clear communication are key to interpersonal interaction
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