To be (Masked) or Not to be (Masked) during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Social and Psychological Double Bind

Abstract

In the context of the exponential growth of the pandemic, everyone has to make some decision: When there is a world shortage of material (screening tests, masks, respirators and vaccine), societal measures are crucial to contain an epidemic. In this context, psychological and behavioral parameters become directly relevant to public health, but can also subject us to a philosophical argument as in Pascal’s wager. To be masked or not to be masked during the Covid-19 Pandemic appears then as a social and psychological double bind.