Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the nature of our social interactions. In order to understand how protective equipment and distancing measures influence the ability to comprehend others’ emotions and, thus, to effectively interact with others, we carried out an online study across the Italian population during the first pandemic peak. Participants were shown static facial expressions (Angry, Happy and Neutral) covered by a sanitary mask or by a scarf. They were asked to evaluate the expressed emotions as well as to assess the degree to which one would adopt physical and social distancing measures for each stimulus. Results demonstrate that, despite the covering of the lower-face, participants correctly recognized the facial expressions of emotions with a polarizing effect on emotional valence ratings found in females. Noticeably, while females’ ratings for physical and social distancing were driven by the emotional content of the stimuli, males were influenced by the “covered” condition. The results also show the impact of the pandemic on anxiety and fear experienced by participants. Taken together, our results offer novel insights on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social interactions, providing a deeper understanding of the way people react to different kinds of protective face covering.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the nature of our social interactions
The aim of the present study is fourfold: (1) to investigate how the perception of emotional facial expressions is influenced by the covering of lower-face features by different kinds of protective face-covering within the context of the COVID-19 first pandemic peak; (2) to investigate whether protective face-covering influences the attribution of physical distance as well as the perceived social distance from others; (3) to explore gender differences; (4) to investigate the current fear of COVID-19 in more detail and its relation with other personality factors
Post-hoc tests showed that Female participants attributed more negative ratings than Males to both Angry (z = − 8.2, SE = 0.97, p < 0.001; Female-Anger: M = − 35.3, CIs = − 37.5, − 33.07; MaleAnger: M = − 27.3, CIs = − 29,6, − 25.14) and Neutral facial expressions (z = − 6, SE = 0.97, p < 0.001; Female-Neutral: M = − 7.8, CIs = − 10.1, − 5.6; Male-Neutral: M = − 2.1, CIs = − 4.3, 0.14), while they attributed more positive ratings than Male participants to Happy stimuli (z = 6.9, SE = 0.97, p < 0.001; Female-Happiness: M = 29.9, CIs = 27.7, 32.13; Male-Happiness: M = 23.3, CIs = 21, 25.47)
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the nature of our social interactions. Previous studies have investigated the effect of covered faces on emotion perception, in particular with regard to Islamic veils or h eaddresses[8,9,10] As expected, their results showed that when only the upper part of the face is visible (i.e., the eyes), participants perceive and recognize negative emotions (i.e., anger and fear) better than positive (i.e., happiness) ones. For the foreseeable future, it will be necessary to wear sanitary masks covering the lower face (i.e., mouth and nose) and do social distancing when interacting with others. How do these unprecedented conditions influence the way we perceive and comprehend other people’s emotions? In the United States in the spring of 2020, showed that women are more prone to wear a sanitary mask than men, and that men feel more negative emotions when wearing a face covering[16]
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