Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
PLoS One. 2021 Feb 17;16(2):e0246317. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246317. eCollection 2021.
This study reports a comprehensive empirical investigation of the nature and correlates of anti-mask attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accumulating evidence underscores the importance of facemasks, as worn by the general public, in limiting the spread of infection. Accordingly, mask wearing has become increasingly mandatory in public places such as stores and on public transit. Although the public has been generally adherent to mask wearing, a small but vocal group of individuals refuse to wear masks. Anti-mask protest rallies have occurred in many places throughout the world, sometimes erupting violently. Few empirical studies have examined the relationship between anti-mask attitudes and mask non-adherence and little is known about how such attitudes relate to one another or other factors (e.g., non-adherence to social distancing, anti-vaccination attitudes). To investigate these issues, the present study surveyed 2,078 adults from the US and Canada. Consistent with other surveys, we found that most (84%) people wore masks because of COVID-19. The 16% who did not wear masks scored higher on most measures of negative attitudes towards masks. Network analyses indicated that negative attitudes about masks formed an intercorrelated network, with the central nodes in the network being (a) beliefs that masks are ineffective in preventing COVID-19, and (b) psychological reactance (PR; i.e., an aversion to being forced to wear masks). These central nodes served as links, connecting the network of anti-masks attitudes to negative attitudes toward SARSCoV2 vaccination, beliefs that the threat of COVID-19 has been exaggerated, disregard for social distancing, and political conservatism. Findings regarding PR are important because, theoretically, PR is likely to strengthen other anti-masks attitudes (e.g., beliefs that masks are ineffective) because people with strong PR react with anger and counter-arguments when their beliefs are challenged, thereby leading to a strengthening of their anti-mask beliefs. Implications for improving mask adherence are discussed.
本研究报告了一项关于 COVID-19 大流行期间反口罩态度的性质和相关性的综合实证调查。越来越多的证据强调了公众普遍佩戴口罩对面部感染传播的重要性。因此，在商店和公共交通工具等公共场所，佩戴口罩的要求越来越高。尽管公众普遍遵守佩戴口罩的规定，但仍有一小部分人强烈反对佩戴口罩。世界各地都发生了反口罩抗议集会，有时甚至演变成暴力冲突。很少有实证研究调查过反口罩态度与不戴口罩之间的关系，也很少有人了解这些态度如何相互关联或与其他因素（例如，不遵守社交距离、反疫苗接种态度）有关。为了调查这些问题，本研究调查了来自美国和加拿大的 2078 名成年人。与其他调查一致，我们发现大多数（84%）人因 COVID-19 而戴口罩。不戴口罩的 16%的人在大多数对口罩的负面态度测量中得分更高。网络分析表明，对口罩的负面态度形成了一个相互关联的网络，网络中的核心节点是（a）认为口罩不能有效预防 COVID-19 的信念，以及（b）心理抵触（PR；即，对被迫戴口罩的反感）。这些核心节点充当了连接口罩反感情绪网络与对 SARSCoV2 疫苗接种的负面态度、认为 COVID-19 威胁被夸大、不遵守社交距离和政治保守主义的纽带。关于 PR 的发现很重要，因为从理论上讲，PR 可能会增强其他反口罩态度（例如，认为口罩无效），因为具有强烈 PR 的人在他们的信念受到挑战时会愤怒和反驳，从而加强他们的反口罩信念。讨论了提高口罩佩戴率的意义。
