Wearing a face mask against Covid-19 results in a reduction of social distancing.

Alice Cartaud,François Quesque,Yann Coello,Zezhi Li

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0243023

Abstract

In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, barrier gestures such as regular hand-washing, social distancing, and wearing a face mask are highly recommended. Critically, interpersonal distance (IPD) depends on the affective dimension of social interaction, which might be affected by the current Covid-19 context. In the present internet-based experimental study, we analyzed the preferred IPD of 457 French participants when facing human-like characters that were either wearing a face mask or displaying a neutral, happy or angry facial expression. Results showed that IPD was significantly reduced when characters were wearing a face mask, as they were perceived as more trustworthy compared to the other conditions. Importantly, IPD was even more reduced in participants infected with Covid-19 or living in low-risk areas, while it was not affected by the predicted health of the characters. These findings shed further light on the psychological factors that motivate IPD adjustments, in particular when facing a collective threat. They are also of crucial importance for policy makers as they reveal that despite the indisputable value of wearing a face mask in the current pandemic context, their use should be accompanied by an emphasis on social distancing to prevent detrimental health consequences.

Highlights

The Covid-19 pandemic began in China in December 2019 and quickly spread around the world, with 3 889 841 cases reported in 187 countries as of May 8, 2020 (Covid-19 interactive dashboard) [1]
We investigated to what extent barrier gestures interact, and in particular how wearing a face mask impacts social distancing, an essential measure against Covid-19 transmission
By using an original online paradigm in a lockdown context, our aim was to evaluate the emotional valence carried by the face mask through its effect on interpersonal distance (IPD), and to compare this effect to that associated with emotional facial expressions [11,12,13]

Summary

Introduction

The Covid-19 pandemic began in China in December 2019 and quickly spread around the world, with 3 889 841 cases reported in 187 countries as of May 8, 2020 (Covid-19 interactive dashboard) [1]. To slow down the pandemic, it is critical to ensure that human behavior with respect to preventing infection is represented appropriately. In accordance with WHO guidelines, many governments recommended the use of barrier gestures in social contexts such as regular hand-washing, maintaining an inter-individual distance of at least 1 meter, and wearing a medical mask [2]. Highly encouraged due to its obvious sanitary impact, the wearing of a face mask has social consequences that have not yet been studied in depth, and its interaction with other barrier gestures such as social distancing is unknown. Since the pioneering work of Hall [3] and Hediger [4], social interactions are known to require a fine adjustment of interpersonal distance (IPD). Selecting an appropriate IPD involves two constraints: the need to approach conspecifics given the interaction’s

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