Face masks are something that almost every individual around the world has made their constants. Nowadays, stepping outside without a mask is equal to leaving one’s home without a wallet. These two words have also prompted furious debates during the pandemic.
The discussion about masks is still doing the rounds of the internet and now Cardiff University experts have discovered a surprising new reason to mask up.
They have published new research which suggests protective face masks make the person wearing it look more attractive.
Their study, published in the journal Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, measured how different types of face masks changed the attractiveness of 40 male faces.
They have also discovered the type of covering matter blue medical masks were found to increase facial attractiveness more than other types of masks.
Dr Michael Lewis, a Reader from Cardiff University’s School of Psychology and an expert in the psychology of faces, commented that the research carried out before the pandemic found medical face masks reduce attractiveness. However, the team of researchers wanted to study the issue after masks became an integral part of everyone’s lives.
According to a blog post by Cardiff University, Dr. Lewis commented, “Our study suggests faces are considered most attractive when covered by medical face masks. This may be because we’re used to healthcare workers wearing blue masks and now we associate these with people in caring or medical professions. At a time when we feel vulnerable, we may find the wearing of medical masks reassuring and so feel more positive towards the wearer.”
“We also found faces are considered significantly more attractive when covered by cloth masks than when not covered. Some of this effect may be a result of being able to hide undesirable features in the lower part of the face but this effect was present for both less attractive and more attractive people,” he added.
The research was conducted in February 2021, seven months after face masks became mandatory in the UK.
“The current research shows the pandemic has changed our psychology in how we perceive the wearers of masks. When we see someone wearing a mask, we no longer think ‘that person has a disease, I need to stay away. This relates to evolutionary psychology and why we select the partners we make. Disease and evidence of disease can play a big role in mate selection previously any cues to disease would be a big turn off. Now we can observe a shift in our psychology such that face masks are no longer acting as a contamination cue,” Dr. Lewis explained.
Now, further work is being conducted with female and male participants to see if the results are true for both genders.
