Abstract
This study reports a comprehensive empirical investigation of the nature and correlates of anti-mask attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accumulating evidence underscores the importance of facemasks, as worn by the general public, in limiting the spread of infection. Accordingly, mask wearing has become increasingly mandatory in public places such as stores and on public transit. Although the public has been generally adherent to mask wearing, a small but vocal group of individuals refuse to wear masks. Anti-mask protest rallies have occurred in many places throughout the world, sometimes erupting violently. Few empirical studies have examined the relationship between anti-mask attitudes and mask non-adherence and little is known about how such attitudes relate to one another or other factors (e.g., non-adherence to social distancing, anti-vaccination attitudes). To investigate these issues, the present study surveyed 2,078 adults from the US and Canada. Consistent with other surveys, we found that most (84%) people wore masks because of COVID-19. The 16% who did not wear masks scored higher on most measures of negative attitudes towards masks. Network analyses indicated that negative attitudes about masks formed an intercorrelated network, with the central nodes in the network being (a) beliefs that masks are ineffective in preventing COVID-19, and (b) psychological reactance (PR; i.e., an aversion to being forced to wear masks). These central nodes served as links, connecting the network of anti-masks attitudes to negative attitudes toward SARSCoV2 vaccination, beliefs that the threat of COVID-19 has been exaggerated, disregard for social distancing, and political conservatism. Findings regarding PR are important because, theoretically, PR is likely to strengthen other anti-masks attitudes (e.g., beliefs that masks are ineffective) because people with strong PR react with anger and counter-arguments when their beliefs are challenged, thereby leading to a strengthening of their anti-mask beliefs. Implications for improving mask adherence are discussed.
Highlights
Adherence and non-adherence to wearing facemasksIt has become increasingly apparent that behavioral science is vital for understanding how pandemics can be optimally managed, and for understanding and addressing pandemicrelated socially disruptive phenomena such as the reluctance or frank refusal to follow health guidelines such as the wearing of face masks [1, 2]
Mask wearing has long been regarded as vital for healthcare workers and has been recommended for people in the community, there have been inconsistent messages from health authorities about mask wearing for the general public during the COVID-19 pandemic [3,4,5]
Some health authorities such as the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that masks not be worn by the public and that masks should be reserved for health care workers and those infected with COVID-19 [5, 6]
Summary
Adherence and non-adherence to wearing facemasksIt has become increasingly apparent that behavioral science is vital for understanding how pandemics can be optimally managed, and for understanding and addressing pandemicrelated socially disruptive phenomena such as the reluctance or frank refusal to follow health guidelines such as the wearing of face masks [1, 2]. At that time the WHO and other health authorities averred that masks are ineffective for the general public, that masks provided a false sense of security, and that the wearing of masks would cause people to touch their faces, thereby increasing their chances of infection [5, 7] Such concerns proved to be unfounded [7,8,9] and evidence steadily emerged to support the wearing of masks by members of the general public [10, 11]. Health authorities such as the WHO subsequently reversed their position on facemasks and recommended that masks be worn by the public when they were in public places, especially when social distancing was not possible [6]
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