Abstract
Face masks became the symbol of the global fight against the coronavirus. While face masks' medical benefits are clear, little is known about their psychological consequences. Drawing on theories of the social functions of emotions and rapid trait impressions, we tested hypotheses on face masks' effects on emotion-recognition accuracy and social judgments (perceived trustworthiness, likability, and closeness). Our preregistered study with 191 German adults revealed that face masks diminish people's ability to accurately categorize an emotion expression and make target persons appear less close. Exploratory analyses further revealed that face masks buffered the negative effect of negative (vs. non-negative) emotion expressions on perceptions of trustworthiness, likability, and closeness. Associating face masks with the coronavirus' dangers predicted higher perceptions of closeness for masked but not for unmasked faces. By highlighting face masks' effects on social functioning, our findings inform policymaking and point at contexts where alternatives to face masks are needed.
Highlights
COVID-19 has created a new normal, changing how people interact in fundamental ways
Drawing from socio-functional theories of emotion [5,6] and research on the rapid formation of trait impressions based on facial cues [e.g., a smile or youthful features; 7,8], we examined face masks’ effect on emotional and social inferences
We further explored how the valence of the emotional expression and maskrelated associations interact with face masks to influence these social judgments
Summary
While people still frequently engage with unknown others, be it in the grocery store or on the bus, many interactions are between strangers wearing masks. While face masks effectively reduce the risk of infection [3], they may impact encounters between strangers in meaningful ways. Voiced concerns pertain to difficulties in reading emotions in masked faces and to related disturbances in social interactions [4]. We investigated whether the reduction of facial cues due to wearing a face mask undermines emotion-recognition accuracy and perceptions of trustworthiness, likability, and closeness. We further explored how the valence of the emotional expression and maskrelated associations interact with face masks to influence these social judgments.
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