Who is wearing a mask? Gender-, age-, and location-related differences during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Masks are an effective tool in combatting the spread of COVID-19, but some people still resist wearing them and mask-wearing behavior has not been experimentally studied in the United States. To understand the demographics of mask wearers and resistors, and the impact of mandates on mask-wearing behavior, we observed shoppers (n = 9935) entering retail stores during periods of June, July, and August 2020. Approximately 41% of the June sample wore a mask. At that time, the odds of an individual wearing a mask increased significantly with age and was also 1.5x greater for females than males. Additionally, the odds of observing a mask on an urban or suburban shopper were~4x that for rural areas. Mask mandates enacted in late July and August increased mask-wearing compliance to over 90% in all groups, but a small percentage of resistors remained. Thus, gender, age, and location factor into whether shoppers in the United States wear a mask or face covering voluntarily. Additionally, mask mandates are necessary to increase mask wearing among the public to a level required to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

The Moderating Effects of Perceived Severity on the Generational Gap in Preventive Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the U.S.

“…Those 18 to 24 years old were found to be the least likely to take protective actions. The lower percentage of younger generations adopting preventive measures, with their potential to be infected with no or mild symptoms [ 37 ], creates problems for infection control because they can keep the “chains of transmission” going, and put older adults and those with preexisting conditions of all ages at risk of severe illness [ 6 ].…”

“…In addition, although elderly people tend to wear masks in almost any settings, the young generation prefers not to wear facial masks when hanging out with their peers [ 5 ]. This may translate into about a 20% increase in the likelihood for those 65 years and older to wear masks than those who are under 30 years old [ 6 ]. Further nuances were yielded by Kim and Crimmins’s study [ 7 ], which found that at the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020) older people were actually not more likely to engage in preventive behaviors, including the practices of hygiene, face covering, quarantine, social distancing, etc., than the young generation; however, as the pandemic evolved (i.e., May 2020), older adults then exhibited a much greater compliance with preventive regulations.…”

“…Yet, the line of research on COVID-19 so far has mostly focused on generational differences in prevention behaviors against the virus [ 6 , 7 ], without addressing the possible moderating role of perceived severity under this global health crisis. To fill in this gap in the current literature, this study seeks to explore age disparities in the perceived severity of COVID-19 and in the adoption of preventive measures, followed by applying extended statistical models to investigate how the perceived severity of the virus influences the generational gap in preventive behaviors.…”

“…In the event of a human-to-human H5N1 outbreak in Hong Kong, older people were found to be more likely to report self-protective behaviors [ 22 ]. In a recent study on mask-wearing behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., researchers also found that elderly adults (>65 years old) wear masks more frequently than middle-age (30–65 years old) and young people (2–30 years old), because older people are at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 [ 6 ]. In line with these findings, we thus hypothesize a positive relationship between age and the adoption of preventive behaviors.…”

Noncompliance With Safety Guidelines as a Free-Riding Strategy: An Evolutionary Game-Theoretic Approach to Cooperation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Unwillingness to comply with public health guidelines has indeed emerged as a recurrent problem that severely undermines efforts to curtail the virus (Naso, 2020). For example, a substantial proportion of the American population refuses to wear masks (Kramer, 2020) despite evidence of their effectiveness in reducing infectiousness (Haischer et al, 2020). Community surveys also found that 39% of Americans do not intend to be vaccinated, with almost half of these individuals convinced that more information would not sway their decision (Funk and Tyson, 2020).…”