The impact of face masks on interpersonal trust in times of COVID-19

Malik, Samreen; Mihm, Benedikt; Reichelt, Malte

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-96500-7

Cited by 18 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…In contrast, other studies have highlighted a negative bias in trustworthiness appraisals of masked faces. For example, Malik et al (2021) showed videos of masked or unmasked actors offering economical advice to more than 2000 US citizens and found that only 5% trusted the advice given by masked strangers than when it was given by the unmasked strangers. In a rating study by Biermann et al (2021) , masked faces were evaluated as less trustworthy and less happy than unmasked faces; however, this effect was attenuated in participants who experienced high psychological distress and risk perception associated with the pandemic, and who showed high compliance with prevention measures to avoid infection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wearing the face mask affects our social attention over space

et al. 2022

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“…What modulates statements’ credibility instead are facemasks. Extant studies focus on either explicit judgments or implicit measures of trustworthiness impressions from masked faces (Cartaud et al, 2020 ; Olivera-La Rosa et al, 2020 ; Biermann et al, 2021 ; Grundmann et al, 2021 ; Malik et al, 2021 ; Marini et al, 2021 ; Oldmeadow & Koch, 2021 ) have highlighted two ways in which masks can act upon the trustworthiness impression of a face who don it. First, the very presence of a facemask can enhance trustworthiness impression, arguably due to signaling care for others (Cartaud et al, 2020 ; Marini et al, 2021 ; Olivera-La Rosa et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, the very presence of a facemask can enhance trustworthiness impression, arguably due to signaling care for others (Cartaud et al, 2020 ; Marini et al, 2021 ; Olivera-La Rosa et al, 2020 ). In some cases, facemasks have also been reported to decrease trustworthiness impression, likely due to their association with the harm brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic (Biermann et al, 2021 ; Malik et al, 2021 ). In both cases, however, the effect is due to the meaning assigned to the mask itself rather than on its effect on the underlying face.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, several studies have shown how the interpretation of facemasks in terms of trustworthiness can be affected by several factors, e.g. political orientation (Ingram et al unpublished ) or personal distress (Malik et al, 2021 ; cf. the sub-samples analyzed by Biermann et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another factor possibly mitigating the effect of trustworthiness bias is the partial facial occlusion. Indeed, capitalizing on the introduction of norms for mask-wearing in response to the Covid pandemic, several studies have recently investigated how facemasks influence the formation of the impression of trustworthiness (Cartaud et al, 2020 ; Olivera-La Rosa et al, 2020 ; Biermann et al, 2021 ; Grundmann et al, 2021 ; Malik et al, 2021 ; Marini et al, 2021 ; Oldmeadow & Koch, 2021 ). The results of these studies suggest that masks can affect trustworthiness in two ways that are not mutually exclusive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Facial impression of trustworthiness biases statement credibility unless suppressed by facemask

et al. 2022

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The impression of trustworthiness based on someone’s facial appearance biases our subsequent behavior toward that subject in a variety of contexts. In this study, we investigated whether facial trustworthiness also biases the credibility of utterances associated with that face (H1). We explored whether this bias is mitigated by utterances eliciting reasoning, i.e. explanations (as opposed to factual statements; H2). Moreover, we hypothesized that overimposing facemasks on those faces could enhance/reduce utterance credibility due to social value of mask-wearing (H3), and that facemasks could counter the putative credibility bias introduced by facial trustworthiness (H4). If so, this may be either because facemasks remove the visual information necessary for trustworthiness impression (H4a), or because information is less salient, although it can be retrieved under different circumstances (H4b). An online study (N = 159) was conducted to test these hypotheses. In the first task, subjects saw 48 facial pictures coupled with one utterance and judged the truthfulness/falsity of this utterance. In the second task, they saw again 16 of the faces from the previous tasks and were asked to recall whether the associated utterance was true or false. Findings from the first task support H1 and H4, but not H2 and H3. However, in the second task, where the face is the only available cue, the credibility-mitigation bias exerted by facemask disappears, supporting H4b over H4a. Our results confirm the pervasivity of facial trustworthiness impressions in social cognition, and suggest that facemask can mitigate them, or at least their salience.

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Conducting prison‐based research during the COVID‐19 pandemic and the value of involving people with lived experience

Pratt

Crook

2023

Criminal Behav Ment Health

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The impact of face masks on interpersonal trust in times of COVID-19

Cited by 18 publications

References 50 publications

Wearing the face mask affects our social attention over space

Wearing the face mask affects our social attention over space

Facial impression of trustworthiness biases statement credibility unless suppressed by facemask

Conducting prison‐based research during the COVID‐19 pandemic and the value of involving people with lived experience

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