Face Masks Do Not Alter Gaze Cueing of Attention: Evidence From the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dalmaso, Mario; Zhang, Xinyuan; Galfano, Giovanni; Castelli, Luigi

doi:10.1177/20416695211058480

Cited by 17 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Nevertheless, the pattern of the data collected online was in line with the classical gaze-cueing effect since it showed faster reaction time for congruent than incongruent conditions, thus suggesting the reliability of the study. Interestingly, our results only partially replicated evidence coming from a recent study by Dalmaso et al (2021) ; published after our data collection was ended and a first version of the paper was drafted. Specifically, the authors explored the impact of face masks on social attention using a standard gaze-cueing task and found that the GCE is not altered as a function of mask condition, that is, a reliable GCE emerged either when stimuli were embedded in faces wearing a mask or not (i.e., Mask and No-Mask condition).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

Wearing the face mask affects our social attention over space

et al. 2022

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Recent studies suggest that covering the face inhibits the recognition of identity and emotional expressions. However, it might also make the eyes more salient, since they are a reliable index to orient our social and spatial attention. This study investigates (1) whether the pervasive interaction with people with face masks fostered by the COVID-19 pandemic modulates the processing of spatial information essential to shift attention according to other’s eye-gaze direction (i.e., gaze-cueing effect: GCE), and (2) whether this potential modulation interacts with motor responses (i.e., Simon effect). Participants were presented with face cues orienting their gaze to a congruent or incongruent target letter location (gaze-cueing paradigm) while wearing a surgical mask (Mask), a patch (Control), or nothing (No-Mask). The task required to discriminate the identity of the lateralized target letters by pressing one of two lateralized response keys, in a corresponding or a non-corresponding position with respect to the target. Results showed that GCE was not modulated by the presence of the Mask, but it occurred in the No-Mask condition, confirming previous studies. Crucially, the GCE interacted with Simon effect in the Mask and Control conditions, though in different ways. While in the Mask condition the GCE emerged only when target and response positions corresponded (i.e., Simon-corresponding trials), in the Control condition it emerged only when they did not correspond (i.e., Simon-non-corresponding trials). These results indicate that people with face masks induce us to jointly orient our visual attention in the direction of the seen gaze (GCE) in those conditions resembling (or associated with) a general approaching behavior (Simon-corresponding trials). This is likely promoted by the fact that we tend to perceive wearing the mask as a personal safety measure and, thus, someone wearing the face mask is perceived as a trustworthy person. In contrast, people with a patch on their face can be perceived as more threatening, therefore inducing a GCE in those conditions associated with a general avoidance behavior (Simon-non-corresponding trials).

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

Wearing the face mask affects our social attention over space

et al. 2022

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“…Gaze cue could also play a role in forming social judgments. In fact, a recent study found that gaze cueing of attention is not affected by mask-wearing (Dalmaso et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Eye Gaze As Possible Cue For Approachability and Trustworthi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Face masks inhibit facial cues for approachability and trustworthiness: an eyetracking study

Bylianto

Chan

2022

Curr Psychol

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Wearing face masks during the Covid-19 pandemic has undeniable benefits from our health perspective. However, the interpersonal costs on social interactions may have been underappreciated. Because masks obscure critical facial regions signaling approach/avoidance intent and social trust, this implies that facial inference of approachability and trustworthiness may be severely discounted. Here, in our eyetracking experiment, we show that people judged masked faces as less approachable and trustworthy. Further analyses showed that the attention directed towards the eye region relative to the mouth region mediated the effect on approachability, but not on trustworthiness. This is because for masked faces, with the mouth region obscured, visual attention is then automatically diverted away from the mouth and towards the eye region, which is an undiagnostic cue for judging a target’s approachability. Together, these findings support that mask-wearing inhibits the critical facial cues needed for social judgements.

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“…Most importantly, it is here shown that spontaneous categorization processes are triggered, grouping individuals as a function of their mask-related behaviors. The implementation of preventive behaviors has become an integral part of people's daily lives, and much has already been done to highlight the possible effects on socio-cognitive processes 9,[52][53][54][55][56][57] . Although there is a widespread hope that we could soon overcome the Covid-19 pandemic, there is still uncertainty about the future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Face mask use as a categorical dimension in social perception

Castelli

Tumino

Carraro

2022

Sci Rep

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Prevention measures aimed at combating COVID-19 pandemic strongly impact several aspects of social life. In particular, interpersonal perception is affected as a function of whether the persons perceived wear or not face masks. In two experimental studies, we here explored whether people rely on the presence vs. absence of face masks when encoding information in memory about other individuals. In a memory confusion paradigm, participants were initially presented with individuals either wearing a face mask or not, each conveying a series of sentences. Next, participants were probed about the identity of the speaker of each sentence. Results showed that it was more likely to erroneously attribute a sentence to a speaker who also was wearing a face mask (or not) as the original speaker, demonstrating that the cue about wearing or not a face mask was spontaneously used to encode information. Study 2 ruled out an alternative explanation based on perceptual processes, suggesting that face masks represent meaningful social objects. Overall, it emerged that participants spontaneously categorize others as a function of whether they wear a mask or not. Findings also confirmed previous research evidence about the more positive evaluation of mask wearers as compared to non-wearers, and the overall detrimental impact that face masks may have on the correct identification of social targets.

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Face Masks Do Not Alter Gaze Cueing of Attention: Evidence From the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 17 publications

References 58 publications

Wearing the face mask affects our social attention over space

Wearing the face mask affects our social attention over space

Face masks inhibit facial cues for approachability and trustworthiness: an eyetracking study

Face mask use as a categorical dimension in social perception

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