RISE OF THE ANTI-MASKERS - THE PSYCHOLOGY OF WHY FACE COVERINGS ARE CAUSING SO MUCH UPSET

The Telegraph - 27 July 2020 - by Sarah Knapton

A man wears a face mask with the centre removed as people gather to listen to speakers at a protest organised by "Keep Britain Free" in London on July 19, 2020, in response to the government's decision to impose mask wearing for shoppers as a precaution against the transmission of the novel coronavirus. - The protesters are reacting against the UK Governments "liberty-sapping regulations" and laws imposed during lockdown. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)A divisive new battleground has emerged in recent weeks between Britons who are angry at being forced to wear face masks, and those equally furious about non-compliance. 

Libertarians, massing under the banner 'Keep Britain Free', complain that covering up is an affront to civil rights, and largely pointless when pubs and restaurants are exempt.

Pro-maskers, operating under the ‘mask it or casket’ slogan, brand the dissenters selfish, with some shops even installing mirrors which state: “We have provided this space away from everyone else where you can stare at your reflection, since apparently you’re the only person you care about.” 

Somewhere in the middle are those who grudgingly wear masks, but still feel a gnawing unease. 

But according to experts, there are fundamental reasons why masks make people uncomfortable, ranging from their historical links to crime and disease, to how they change human interaction.

Masks can make it difficult to hear what people are saying, dampen down empathy responses and leave people unable to make quick judgments about whether to trust an approaching stranger. They can even invoke a sense of humiliation and shame.

Dr Becky Spelman, psychologist and clinical director of the Private Therapy Clinic in Harley Street, argues that being unable to read facial expressions properly can be ‘extremely anxiety provoking.’

“Because masks have been worn by burglars and people who commit crimes, sometimes there is a fear reaction, or an anxious reaction, when we can’t see someone’s face,” she said.

“It also diminishes trust. It’s very hard to trust people when we can’t see what facial expression they are making fully. We don’t know if someone is being friendly towards us.

“We’re having to work so much harder to try and find out people’s intentions and that is extremely anxiety provoking and frustrating for people.”

Research has shown that patients feel less empathy from doctors and dentists who wear masks during treatment. 

Dr Dimitrios Tsivrikos, a Consumer and Business Psychologist at University College London (UCL), said the same effect will make shops and public transport seem far less friendly while masks are compulsory. 

“How we psychologically view each other is very much about seeing the face,” he said, 

“People are looking for small micro-movements around the mouth particularly. You might come across someone on the Tube and you’re wary of them and then they crack a smile and you feel ok, so we use faces to feel safe.

“There have been loads of studies when people view only a part of one’s face they struggle to communicate. We need the whole face to decode the emotions.”

Digby Tantan, Clinical Professor of Psychotherapy at the University of Sheffield, believes that the brain is constantly working hard to pick up tiny micro-signals that communicate what a person is thinking.

People tend to read faces differently, so those who rely on the lower face for such signals will struggle with masks more than people who tend to look at the eyes.

Studies have also shown that when looking at angry or fearful faces, the eyes, nasolabial folds - which run from the nose to the edge of the lips - and the mouth draw a disproportionate amount of the gaze. 

“There may be a general effect of discomfort because we cannot scan around another person's mouth, this is likely to mainly affect those people who normally spend more time scanning around the mouth of another person and rely on it for an update on whether or not they pose a threat,” he said.

Prof Tantam also believes face coverings have become culturally bound up with feelings of oppressive authority or religion, which may make people uncomfortable. 

But he also thinks that there may be some truth in the pro-maskers arguments that those who refuse to comply may be less civic-minded and more likely to believe they are not an infection threat.

“If one's priority is to look after oneself and ignore others, there's no point to wearing a mask.  If one is altruistically motivated, there is every point,” he added.

“Even more primitively, if one believes that one's body is pure but other people's bodies are contaminated, wearing a mask is an affront.  If one accepts that one can be as readily contaminated or infected as everyone else, wearing a mask is the obvious public health thing to do.”

Unlike other countries, Britain has been slow on the uptake of masks. According to YouGov, just 38 per cent of people were wearing masks in public before new legislation was enacted, compared to 88 per cent of people in Spain in 90 per cent in Singapore.

Polling shows that the main reason for people wearing a mask is that they believe there is little risk to themselves or for other people. Britons have also complained about feeling silly wearing a mask, while others believe it makes people think they have the virus.

Confusion about when and where to wear masks is also adding to non-compliance, say behavioural experts. And politicians continue to send out mixed messages.

Dr Sander van der Linden, social psychologist on the faculty in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge, said: “Most people have not seen politicians wearing a mask, so there is a lack of clear signalling and good role models, and it doesn’t appear mandatory. 

“The communication has been quite confusing. People do understand you have to wear it on transport but they don’t seem to be fully aware that it’s mandatory in shops and enclosed spaces.”

However in Scotland, where masks became compulsory two weeks earlier that in Britain there are signs that people are getting used to the idea.

Stephen Reicher, Professor of Social Psychology at the University of St Andrews, said that masks had initially been treated with suspicion, but widespread compliance had led to people feeling more comfortable. 

“Masks can invoke a sense of humiliation and shame – if I cover I must have something shameful I don’t want people to see,” he said.

“I remember the first time I wore a mask. A man pauses before he goes into a shop, covers his face, walks in. Traditionally that would signify danger. It would mark me out as someone dangerous and disreputable.

“It felt odd. But of course rather than flinching, the shop staff were extra friendly because my mask protected them. The meaning and identity changed from ‘danger’ and ‘outlaw’ to ‘safety’ and ‘friend’.

“The change can happen very quickly… in Scotland the sense is very much ‘what was the fuss all about’? Same with seatbelts. Now it feels very odd not to wear them.”

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