A recent study conducted by researchers from Seoul National University in South Korea has found that self-perceived attractiveness plays a role in people’s intentions to wear masks in the post-Covid era.

The study, which was published in Frontiers in Psychology, involved three questionnaires and experiments on Americans recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk.

The results showed that people who view themselves as attractive are less likely to wear masks as they believe it hinders the opportunities to deliver a favorable impression to others.

On the other hand, people who do not view themselves as attractive believe that face coverings actually enhance their looks.

The first study involved 244 people who were asked to imagine a scenario in which they were invited for a job interview at a company they liked. Participants scored their facial attractiveness before being asked whether they thought the interviewers would perceive them as more attractive with a face mask and if they would wear a mask during the interview if it was optional. The results showed that people who scored themselves as very attractive were less likely to wear masks and less likely to endorse the belief that mask-wearing enhances their appearance.

The second study involved 344 people who imagined themselves interviewing for a job at a well-respected company. They were asked whether they thought the interviewers would perceive them as more trustworthy, competent, or attractive with a face mask. The results showed that people who answered yes to these questions were more likely to wear masks in the interview.

The third study involved 442 people, half of whom were told they were going for a walk with their dog and the other half were told they were going for a job interview. They were asked if they thought others would perceive them as more attractive with a face mask and how much they wanted to make a good first impression on others. The results showed that people who had a job interview to go to cared more about whether wearing a mask affected their facial attractiveness.

The study authors wrote, “Overall, we provide a novel finding that self-perceived attractiveness has significant effects on mask-wearing intention via mask attractiveness belief in the post-pandemic of COVID-19. Our findings suggest that mask-wearing can shift from being a self-protection measure during the COVID-19 pandemic to a self-presentation tactic in the post-pandemic era.”