People Who Don’t Think They’re Attractive Are More Likely to Still Be Wearing a Mask in Public

Three years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s not uncommon to see people wearing masks in public. When I see someone in a mask, I don’t judge.

But what I’ve noticed is that there seem to be a lot of healthy younger people — teenagers and people in their early 20s — who wear masks often, and I have a difficult time understanding it.

I’ve had a theory about this phenomenon for some time. Because it allows them to feel anonymous, I believe some people prefer to keep their masks on. I’m convinced that some people want to literally hide behind a mask.

A recent study doesn’t quite prove my hypothesis Per seIt is not perfect, but it is very close.

“Researchers from Seoul National University in South Korea wanted to see if self-perceived attractiveness played a role in people’s mask-wearing intentions,” The Daily Mail reports. To determine how Americans perceive attractiveness, the researchers carried out three studies.

Related: An angry poll about masking kids might make you mad

One study had participants imagine going to a job interview for a job that they were interested in.

These questions were presented to them. “Do you think the interviewers will perceive you as more attractive with a face mask?” “If wearing a face mask is optional in this interview session, would you wear a face mask during the company interview?”

People who were rated as extremely attractive were less likely say yes. These people were also less likely than others to agree with the belief that mask-wearing enhances one’s appearance. This further dampened their intention to wear masks during job interviews.

However, those who believed that a potential boss, interviewer, or candidate would believe someone with a mask was more trustworthy, competent, or appealing were more likely to put on a mask when in public.

The study authors wrote: “Overall, we provide a novel finding that self-perceived attractiveness has significant effects on mask-wearing intention via mask attractiveness belief in the post-pandemic of COVID-19.”

And here’s where the study dovetails with my theory about people using masks as a sort of barrier between themselves and others.

“Our findings suggest that mask-wearing can shift from being a self-protection measure during the COVID-19 pandemic to a self-presentation tactic in the post-pandemic era,” The researchers concluded.

It is evident that mask-wearing is now much less common than it was during the pandemic. An Ipsos poll last fall Only 37% of those surveyed said they wear masks on a regular basis.

We’re learning more about the ineffectiveness of masks in terms of preventing the spread of COVID and other similar diseases. All-new research According to the Cochrane Institute, surgical masks have a 5% reduction in the chance of contracting COVID and other flu-like illnesses.

Despite this, we still see mask-wearing people, though less frequently than before. As this study suggests, mask-wearing could be linked to self-worth and attractiveness. Perhaps masks act more as a psychological barrier to viral spread.

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