Masks in times of COVID-19 increases the facial trustworthiness

Facial features are important information sources of trustworthiness expectations. Masks reduce the number of facial cues that are visible by partially covering the mouth and nose. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the widespread use of face masks and other personal protection equipment affects and redefines who trusts whom in today’s society. This study used the classical investment game of interpersonal trust with Asian participants to explore the impact of three different face occlusions: No Mask (NM), Standard Mask (SM), and Protection Clothing (PC) on interpersonal trust during the COVID-19. Results showed that both undergraduates (Experiment 1) and non-student adults (Experiment 2) perceived faces wearing protective clothing more trustworthy than faces wearing standard masks, and faces wearing standard masks more trustworthy than faces not wearing masks. The investment income (difference between investment decision and expected return) in the NM condition and the SM condition was comparable, whereas the investment income in the PC condition was higher than that in the SM condition and that in the NM condition, indicating that the mechanisms by which masks and protective clothing enhance trustworthiness may differ. The study’s findings indicate that masks and protective clothing can enhance people’s trust in others in Asian societies. Given the prevalence of masks and the importance of trust between often-mask-wearing medical professionals and the public during the pandemic, we believe the findings of this study will be useful in elucidating the effects of personal protective equipment usage on perceptions of trustworthiness.

面部特征是个体形成对他人可信度预期的重要信息来源。口罩通过部分遮挡口鼻，减少了可被观测到的面部线索数量。新冠疫情大流行期间，口罩及其他个人防护装备（Personal Protection Equipment, PPE）的广泛使用，影响并重新定义了当代社会的人际信任关系。本研究采用经典的人际信任博弈（investment game）范式，招募亚裔被试，探究新冠疫情背景下三种面部遮挡条件——无口罩（No Mask, NM）、标准口罩（Standard Mask, SM）与防护服（Protection Clothing, PC）——对人际信任的影响。实验结果表明，无论是本科生群体（实验1）还是非学生成年人群体（实验2），被试均认为身着防护服的面孔比佩戴标准口罩的面孔更具可信度，而佩戴标准口罩的面孔又比未佩戴口罩的面孔更值得信赖。无口罩组与标准口罩组的投资收益（即投资决策与预期回报的差值）水平相当，而防护服组的投资收益显著高于标准口罩组与无口罩组，这提示口罩与防护服提升他人可信度感知的内在机制或存在差异。本研究结果显示，在亚裔社会中，口罩与防护服均可提升个体对他人的信任水平。鉴于疫情期间口罩的普及性，以及长期佩戴口罩的医疗工作者与公众间的信任至关重要，我们认为本研究结果有助于阐明个人防护装备的使用对个体可信度感知的影响机制。