About the Acceptance of Wearing Face Masks in Times of a Pandemic

Abstract

Wearing face masks in times of COVID-19 is one of the essential keystones for effectively decreasing the rate of new infections and thus for mitigating the negative consequences for individuals as well as for society. Acceptance of wearing masks is still low in many countries, making it extremely difficult to keep the pandemic at bay. In an experimental study, participants ( N = 88) had to assess how strange they felt when wearing a face mask while being exposed to displays of groups of varying numbers of mask wearers. Three different types of face masks were shown: simple homemade masks, FFP2 masks, and loop scarfs. The higher the frequency of people wearing masks in the displayed social group, the less strange the participants felt about themselves, an essential precondition for accepting wearing masks. This effect of a descriptive social norm was particularly effective when people saw others wearing less intrusive masks, here, simple homemade masks.

COVID-19 false dichotomies and a comprehensive review of the evidence regarding public health, COVID-19 symptomatology, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, mask wearing, and reinfection

“…Improper donning and doffing, usage of ill-fitting masks, and inconsistent mask usage point out challenges in scientific communication, health education, policy implementation, community outreach, and surveillance [57]. Mask adherence is contingent on aspects beyond mere "discipline": knowledge about the virus, risk perception, social acceptability of masks, perceived efficacy, trust in government and health agencies, public engagement with science, health literacy, messaging from various sectors, past experiences with masking (e.g., for other respiratory virus epidemics or PM air pollution), mask comfort, consumer appeal, degree of enforcement by public authorities, accessibility (no supply issues), and affordability (no resource constraints) [4,57,59,469,[570][571][572]. The psychological effects of masks are culturally framed and shape acceptance and adherence [54,510].…”

“…Mask policies aimed at fostering uptake should reflect the complex and contested sociocultural meanings and implications of mask wearing [56,428]. Studies examining sociocultural and psychological factors underlying public masking amid the COVID-19 pandemic are therefore vital to identifying motivators, barriers, and disparities, and formulating behavior change strategies that encourage and sustain appropriate mask wearing [469,550,[572][573][574][575][576][577][578][579][580][581].…”

Peers for the fearless: Social norms facilitate preventive behaviour when individuals perceive low COVID-19 health risks

“…The literature distinguishes two main types of social norms: while “descriptive” norms refer to the observed behaviour of others, “injunctive” norms capture the expected moral approval of other people [ 29 ]. Jointly, both forms of social norms foster adherence to preventive behaviour in the context of COVID-19 [ 30 , 31 ], as people may engage in preventive behaviour not because of their belief in the benefit of the behaviour itself, but because they care about their social relations and their reputation in the social environment [ 32 – 36 ]. In line with these expectations, empirical evidence regarding COVID-19 suggests that people who engage in preventive behaviour are perceived as more prosocial [ 37 ] and express less positive attitudes towards those not wearing masks [ 9 ].…”

“…In line with these expectations, empirical evidence regarding COVID-19 suggests that people who engage in preventive behaviour are perceived as more prosocial [ 37 ] and express less positive attitudes towards those not wearing masks [ 9 ]. Furthermore, people feel less “strange” wearing masks when amongst other people wearing masks [ 32 ] and individuals with friends in areas highly affected by the pandemic increase social distancing behaviour [ 38 ].…”

Safe the Planet: Facemasks Disposal Due to Covid-19 Pandemics

“…Also, most people didn't wear face masks until early 2020. Wearing masks was thus initially unpopular in Europe, whereas they were widely worn in Asian communities (Carbon, 2021). Individual mask-wearing behaviour has recently been linked to personality traits.…”