FACE MASKS ARE MAKING PEOPLE APPEAR MORE ATTRACTIVE, SAYS UK STUDY

Sun 16 January 2022:

Is it true that the coronavirus has only brought misery to the world? The correct answer is, of course, no.

Although the Covid pandemic has resulted in several deaths, restrictions, hospitalizations, and economic hardships, it has also had some positive effects on the world.

According to British academics, one of them is that it has helped people look more attractive due to the widespread use of face masks.

The researchers at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom (StudyFinds.org) discovered that both men and women looked better with a face mask that covered the lower half of the face.

Dr. Michael Lewis reader, a face expert at Cardiff University’s school of psychology, stated that a study conducted prior to the pandemic discovered that medical face masks reduced attractiveness because they were associated with disease or illness.

“We wanted to test whether this had changed since face coverings became ubiquitous and understand whether the type of mask had any effect,” Lewis said.

“Our study suggests faces are considered most attractive when covered by medical face masks. This may be because we’re used to healthcare workers wearing blue masks and now, we associate these with people in caring or medical professions. At a time when we feel vulnerable, we may find the wearing of medical masks reassuring and so feel more positive towards the wearer,” Lewis added.

To gauge attractiveness, 43 women judged each man’s face across four scenarios: without a mask, while wearing a cloth mask, while wearing a blue medical face mask, and while holding a plain black book covering the area a face mask would conceal. The women ranked attractiveness on a scale of 1 to 10.

“The results run counter to the pre-pandemic research where it was thought masks made people think about disease and the person should be avoided,” Dr. Lewis notes. “The current research shows the pandemic has changed our psychology in how we perceive the wearers of masks. When we see someone wearing a mask we no longer think ‘that person has a disease, I need to stay away’.”

“This relates to evolutionary psychology and why we select the partners we do. Disease and evidence of disease can play a big role in mate selection – previously any cues to disease would be a big turn off. Now we can observe a shift in our psychology such that face masks are no longer acting as a contamination cue,” Lewis concludes.

The team notes they conducted this work in February 2021, roughly seven months after face masks became mandatory in the United Kingdom. Further research is already underway to test how face masks influence the attractiveness of female faces.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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