The Attractiveness of Masked Faces Is Influenced by Race and Mask Attitudes

Abstract

This study tests the influence of wearing a protective face mask on the perceived attractiveness of the wearer. Participants who identified as White, and who varied in their ideological stance toward mask wearing, rated the attractiveness of facial photographs. The photos varied in baseline attractiveness (low, medium, and high), race (White and Asian), and whether or not the face was wearing a protective mask. Attitudes regarding protective masks were measured after the rating task using a survey to identify participants as either pro- or anti-mask. The results showed that masked individuals of the same race were generally rated as more attractive than unmasked individuals, but that masked individuals of another race were rated as less attractive than unmasked individuals. Moreover, pro-mask participants rated masked individuals as generally more attractive than unmasked individuals, whereas anti-maskers rated masked individuals as less attractive. A control experiment, replicating the procedure but replacing the protective masks with a partially occluding notebook, showed that these effects were mask-specific. These results demonstrate that perceived attractiveness is affected by characteristics of the viewer (attitudes toward protective masks), their relationship to the target (same or different race), and by circumstances external to both (pandemic).

Keywords: COVID-19; affective appreciation; affective devaluation; facial attractiveness; microvalence; protective mask; sanitary mask.

Figure 1

(A) Examples of an unmasked Asian face shown together with the same face when masked (Experiment 1) or when partially occluded by a notebook (Experiment 2). (B) The trial event sequence in the study. The image depicted in the figure was computer generated for the purposes of illustration (https://generated.photos/) and was not one of the faces used in the study.

Figure 2

Mean attractiveness ratings for White and Asian faces of low, medium, and high base attractiveness, when covered with a protective mask (solid line) or not (dashed line). Error bars represent +/− 1 standard error.

Figure 3

Mean difference scores show the difference between ratings for masked and unmasked faces, across the three levels of baseline attractiveness and two races. The difference scores were calculated for each participant as the difference between ratings for masked and unmasked faces. Error bars represent +/− 1 standard error.

Figure 4

Notebook occlusion cost and benefit score, computed as the difference between attractiveness ratings for faces occluded with a notebook and those not occluded by anything, for White and Asian faces. Error bars represent +/− 1 standard error.

Figure 5

Perceived attractiveness for faces without any occlusion in Experiment 1 (black line) and Experiment 2 (gray line). Error bars represent +/− 1 standard error.

Figure 6

Costs and benefits of an occluded face (computed as the difference between averaged ratings for occluded and full faces, across the three levels of baseline attractiveness) as a function of the viewer’s attitudes to masks (horizontal axis) and the race of the target face (color of the bars). Panel A shows results for faces covered with masks; Panel B shows results for faces occluded by a notebook. Error bars represent +/− 1 standard error.