Smiles behind a mask are detectable and affect judgments of attractiveness, trustworthiness, and competence

IF 2.5 2区经济学 Q2 ECONOMICS

Journal of Economic Psychology Pub Date : 2023-10-01 DOI:10.1016/j.joep.2023.102660

Astrid Hopfensitz , César Mantilla

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Smiling is a popular and powerful facial signal used to influence how we are judged and evaluated by others. The recent COVID pandemic made the use of face masks common around the world. Since face masks, when properly worn, cover the lower half of the face, a common concern is that they inhibit our ability to signal to others through facial expressions like smiles. In this paper, we show through three subsequent studies that smiling faces are easily distinguished from neutral faces even if the person is wearing a face mask (Study 1, N = 1814). We further show that smiling behind a face mask significantly influences ratings regarding attractiveness, trustworthiness, and competence (Study 2, N = 250). We finally show that individuals with about 18 months of experience with face masks are well aware that smiling behind face masks will influence ratings regarding attractiveness and trustworthiness by others (Study 3, N = 94). Together, our studies provide evidence that face masks should not be seen as a threat that inhibits simple non-verbal communication through smiles.

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面具后的微笑是可察觉的，会影响对吸引力、可信度和能力的判断

微笑是一种流行的、强大的面部信号，用来影响别人对我们的判断和评价。最近的COVID大流行使口罩在世界范围内普遍使用。由于口罩在佩戴得当的情况下会遮住脸的下半部分，因此人们普遍担心，口罩会抑制我们通过微笑等面部表情向他人发出信号的能力。在本文中，我们通过随后的三个研究表明，即使人戴着口罩，微笑的脸也很容易与中性的脸区分开来(研究1,N = 1814)。我们进一步表明，戴口罩微笑会显著影响人们对吸引力、可信度和能力的评价(研究2,N = 250)。我们最终表明，有18个月口罩使用经验的人很清楚，戴着口罩微笑会影响他人对吸引力和可信度的评价(研究3,N = 94)。总之，我们的研究提供的证据表明，口罩不应该被视为一种威胁，它会阻碍通过微笑进行简单的非语言交流。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Economic Psychology Multiple-

CiteScore

5.20

自引率

31.40%

发文量

审稿时长

63 days

期刊介绍： The Journal aims to present research that will improve understanding of behavioral, in particular psychological, aspects of economic phenomena and processes. The Journal seeks to be a channel for the increased interest in using behavioral science methods for the study of economic behavior, and so to contribute to better solutions of societal problems, by stimulating new approaches and new theorizing about economic affairs. Economic psychology as a discipline studies the psychological mechanisms that underlie economic behavior. It deals with preferences, judgments, choices, economic interaction, and factors influencing these, as well as the consequences of judgements and decisions for economic processes and phenomena. This includes the impact of economic institutions upon human behavior and well-being. Studies in economic psychology may relate to different levels of aggregation, from the household and the individual consumer to the macro level of whole nations. Economic behavior in connection with inflation, unemployment, taxation, economic development, as well as consumer information and economic behavior in the market place are thus among the fields of interest. The journal also encourages submissions dealing with social interaction in economic contexts, like bargaining, negotiation, or group decision-making. The Journal of Economic Psychology contains: (a) novel reports of empirical (including: experimental) research on economic behavior; (b) replications studies; (c) assessments of the state of the art in economic psychology; (d) articles providing a theoretical perspective or a frame of reference for the study of economic behavior; (e) articles explaining the implications of theoretical developments for practical applications; (f) book reviews; (g) announcements of meetings, conferences and seminars.