Perceptions of persons who wear face coverings are modulated by the perceivers’ attitude
Faculty/Professorship: | General Psychology and Methodology ; Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment |
Author(s): | Carbon, Claus-Christian ![]() ![]() |
Title of the Journal: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
ISSN: | 1662-453X |
Corporate Body: | Frontiers Research Foundation |
Publisher Information: | Lausanne |
Year of publication: | 2022 |
Volume: | 16 |
Pages: | 1-16 |
Language(s): | English |
DOI: | 10.3389/fnins.2022.988546 |
Abstract: | We examined if the effect of facial coverings on person perception is influenced by the perceiver’s attitudes. We used two online experiments in which participants saw the same human target persons repeatedly appearing with and without a specific piece of clothing and had to judge the target persons’ character. In Experiment 1 (N = 101), we investigated how the wearing of a facial mask influences a person’s perception depending on the perceiver’s attitude toward measures against the COVID-19 pandemic. In Experiment 2 (N = 114), we examined the effect of wearing a head cover associated with Arabic culture on a person’s perception depending on the perceiver’s attitude toward Islam. Both studies were preregistered; both found evidence that a person’s perception is a process shaped by the personal attitudes of the perceiver as well as merely the target person’s outward appearance. Integrating previous findings, we demonstrate that facial covers, as well as head covers, operate as cues which are used by the perceivers to infer the target persons’ underlying attitudes. The judgment of the target person is shaped by the perceived attitude toward what the facial covering stereotypically symbolizes. |
GND Keywords: | Interpersonale Wahrnehmung; Soziale Wahrnehmung; Kopfbedeckung; Mund-Nasen-Schutz; COVID-19 |
Keywords: | head cover, facial mask, COVID-19, attractiveness, prosociality, social attitude, theory of mind, hijab |
DDC Classification: | 150 Psychology |
RVK Classification: | CP 2500 |
Peer Reviewed: | Ja |
International Distribution: | Ja |
Open Access Journal: | Ja |
Type: | Article |
URI: | https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/58241 |
Release Date: | 9. February 2023 |
Project: | Open-Access-Publikationskosten 2022 - 2024 |

originated at the
University of Bamberg
University of Bamberg