Swinburne University of Technology, Australia.
Perception. 2024 May;53(5-6):343-355. doi: 10.1177/03010066241237430. Epub 2024 Mar 7.
During the global COVID-19 pandemic, the wearing of face masks became a common practice, raising questions about how masks affect perceptions of and behaviour towards others. Numerous studies have explored the impact of face masks on perceptions of trustworthiness, but results have been mixed and it remains unclear whether masks influence perceptions via their social meaning or their effects on facial appearance. In this study, Australian participants (= 363) rated a series of faces which were either masked, unmasked, or occluded by a non-mask object (computer) in terms of perceived trustworthiness in 2020, 2022, or 2023. The apparent trustworthiness of unmasked faces remained stable across years, but masked faces were rated significantly more trustworthy in 2020 compared to 2022 and 2023. Furthermore, ratings of masked faces, but not unmasked faces, were correlated with participants' attitudes towards wearing masks. Faces occluded by a non-mask object were perceived to be less trustworthy than masked faces. Together, results strongly suggest the increase in perceived trustworthiness of masked faces reported in numerous studies conducted during COVID-19 were driven by positive social meanings around mask wearing rather than by their effect on facial appearance.
在全球 COVID-19 大流行期间，戴口罩成为一种常见做法，这引发了人们对于口罩如何影响他人看法和行为的疑问。许多研究都探讨了口罩对面部可信度的影响，但结果不一，目前仍不清楚口罩是否通过其社会意义或对面部外观的影响来影响人们对面部可信度的看法。在这项研究中，澳大利亚的参与者（=363）在 2020 年、2022 年或 2023 年根据面部可信度对一系列戴口罩、不戴口罩或被非口罩物体（电脑）遮挡的面孔进行了评分。未戴口罩的面孔的明显可信度在各年中保持稳定，但与 2022 年和 2023 年相比，戴口罩的面孔在 2020 年被评为更可信。此外，戴口罩的面孔的评分（而非不戴口罩的面孔）与参与者对戴口罩的态度相关。被非口罩物体遮挡的面孔被认为不如戴口罩的面孔可信。总之，研究结果强烈表明，在 COVID-19 期间进行的多项研究中报告的戴口罩的面孔可信度增加，是由戴口罩的积极社会意义驱动的，而不是由其对面部外观的影响驱动的。
