The Psychology of Mask-Wearing

Recently, the New York Times shed light on the reason why Asians do not take off their masks even though their governments have already eased mask-wearing regulations. Surprisingly, the main reason why people avoided taking off their masks was concern about their appearance without masks. Especially in South Korea and Japan, the anxiety concerning others’ disappointment if the mask is removed was high.

There are many reasons for not taking off the mask. Fine dust, prevention of infectious diseases, consideration for others, etc. However, for sure, appearance would be the most important factor of all. In particular, it seems to have a big impact on teenagers. According to the results of a recent survey published by the Korean Association of Youth, many teenagers wear masks even while eating because of low confidence in their appearance, and they are willing to wear masks in the future.

What does a mask have to do with the appearance of a person wearing it? Studies have shown that masks make people look more attractive. A research team from the Department of Psychology at Cardiff University in the U.K. conducted an experiment with 43 women to find out the effect of masks on their appearance. First, they took pictures of 40 men and asked them to classify them into attractive or unattractive groups. They then presented photos of men not wearing masks or wearing either a white mask or a blue medical mask and again, asked the surveyors to rate them on a scale of 1 to 7.

As a result, both attractive and unattractive men received good ratings when wearing a mask. Attractive men without a mask scored an average of 3.4 points, but when wearing a mask, it exceeded 3.5 points. Unattractive men scored an average of 1.8 when not wearing a mask, but the points exceeded 2 when they were wearing masks. Especially, the attractiveness was found to be the highest when wearing a medical blue mask, receiving 0.1 points more than when wearing a white mask. The research team analyzed that it was because our brains automatically assume that the rest of the face that is not revealed would be attractive.

People psychologically tend to think of the good side first. Gwak Geum-ju, a professor of psychology at Seoul National University, said in an interview with Health Chosun: “When we look at a circle or triangle drawn with lines, we usually think of it as a good shape first, but we don’t consciously look for bumpy lines. Rather than imagining it in detail, it is easy to automatically substitute a perfect image that has been encountered before.”

Though masks might cover facial insecurities, they degrade communication between people. Hidden facial expressions behind masks significantly lack the delivery of emotions from person to person. Professor Kwak Geum-joo said, “There is a research result that it is difficult to know other people's emotional states such as joy and pleasure if you cover your mouth.”

To conclude, masks are currently a “trend” that covers up people’s facial insecurities and boosts their appearances. However, though masks might raise confidence, they deteriorate communication and might cause problems due to miscommunication. And the fact is, people will eventually get to know your naked face without masks. If revealing your face is inevitable, why don’t you start taking off your masks to show your shiny smile?