Good news! You can look HOT while protecting the community because a study has found that face masks make you more attractive.
Some boffins over in the UK have uncovered another peculiar fact in light of the pandemic, discovering that on average, people reckon men look better if they can only see half of their face.
Before the pandemic, face masks were overwhelmingly viewed as unattractive because people associated the wearer with sickness and disease. The idea behind the study was to determine whether that stigma has reduced now that everyone is required to wear a mask.
The answer was a resounding yes, but unfortunately, that patterned cloth mask you matched perfectly with the rest of your outfit isn’t going to cut it. Surprisingly, blue disposable face masks are the key to catching the eye of potential suitors.
The study involved a group of 43 women who were asked to rate pictures of males, all photographed without a mask, wearing a cloth mask, a blue surgical mask and holding a book over their face to cover the same area that a mask would.
Photos of the males wearing surgical masks and cloth masks both significantly outranked the faces that were mask-less or covered by a book. But surgical masks came out on top by a fair margin.
“The pandemic has changed our psychology in how we perceive the wearers of masks. When we see someone wearing a mask we no longer think ‘that person has a disease, I need to stay away,'” said Dr Michael Lewis, a face expert from Cardiff University.
“This relates to evolutionary psychology and why we select the partners we do. Disease and evidence of disease can play a big role in mate selection – previously any cues to disease would be a big turn-off.”
Lewis also suggested that wearing a mask directs attention to the eyes, a factor that is likely to have played a part in the results.
A second study is currently underway to determine whether the same results apply to women, but considering how strong the results were for men, we reckon it’s a pretty safe bet.
