Face masks have emotion-dependent dissociable effects on accuracy and confidence in identifying facial expressions of emotion.

ABSTRACT: The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in increased use of face masks worldwide. Here, we examined the effect of wearing a face mask on the ability to recognise facial expressions of emotion. In a within-subjects design, 100 UK-based undergraduate students were shown facial expressions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and neutral expression; these were either posed with or without a face mask, or with a face mask artificially imposed onto them. Participants identified the emotion portrayed in the photographs from a fixed choice array of answers and rated their confidence in their selection. While overall accuracy was higher without than with masks, the effect varied across emotions, with a clear advantage without masks in disgust, happiness, and sadness; no effect for neutral, a

SUBMITTER: Grenville E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8844328 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature