Impact of Face Masks and Viewers' Anxiety on Ratings of First Impressions from Faces.

ABSTRACT: Face mask is now a common feature in our social environment. Although face covering reduces our ability to recognize other's face identity and facial expressions, little is known about its impact on the formation of first impressions from faces. In two online experiments, we presented unfamiliar faces displaying neutral expressions with and without face masks, and participants rated the perceived approachableness, trustworthiness, attractiveness, and dominance from each face on a 9-point scale. Their anxiety levels were measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Social Interaction Anxiety Scale. In comparison with mask-off condition, wearing face masks (mask-on) significantly increased the perceived approachableness and trustworthiness ratings, but showed little impact on increasing

SUBMITTER: Guo K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8772253 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature