The Effect of Wearing a Mask on Facial Attractiveness

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated masking in public spaces. Masks may impact the perceived attractive- ness of individuals and hence, interpersonal relations. Objectives: To determine if facial coverings affect attractiveness. Methods: An online survey was conducted using 114 headshot images, 2 each—unmasked and masked—of 57 individuals. Two hundred and seven participants rated them on an ordinal scale from 1 (least attractive) to 10 (most attractive). Parametric and nonparametric tests were performed, as appropriate, for comparison. Results: For the first quartile, the average rating increased significantly when wearing a mask (5.89 ±0.29 and 6.54±0.67; P= 0.01). For control images ranked within the fourth quartile, the average rating decreased significantly when wearing a mask (7.60±0.26 and 6.62±0.55; P<0.001). In the female subgroup (n = 34), there was a small increase in average rating when masked, whereas in the male subgroup (n = 23), there was a small decrease in average rating when masked, but the change was not statistically significant (P> 0.05). For unmasked female images ranked within the first quartile, the average rating increased significantly when wearing a mask (5.77 ±0.27 and 6.76±0.36; P=0.001). For the female subgroup with mean ratings within the fourth quartile, the average decreased significantly when wearing a medical mask (7.53±0.30 and 6.77±0.53; P< 0.05). For unmasked male images ranked within the first quartile, the average rating increased when wear- ing a medical mask but the change was not statistically significant (P> 0.05), whereas for the control male images within the fourth quartile, the average rating decreased significantly when masked (7.72 ±0.18 and 6.50±0.54; P<0.05). Conclusions: While wearing a facial covering significantly increased attractiveness for images less attractive at baseline, and decreased attractiveness for those that are more attractive at baseline; it did not cause a significant overall change in attractiveness in the study population.