The Signaling Function of Vaccine Status and Masking in Evaluations of Online Dating Profiles

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, various social norms emerged from which individuals began to glean relevant social information about others. Such information included the extent to which individuals adhered to protocols that sought to limit disease spread (e.g., masking, vaccination) and public displays that could communicate one’s coalitional status. Two experiments examined how this signaling informed perceptions of prospective mates in an online dating setting. In Study 1, participants evaluated prospective mates on a hypothetical dating app reporting themselves as having or not having gotten vaccinated and wearing or not wearing medical masks in their profile. Despite vaccination conveying limited social information to perceivers, masking fostered perceptions of likability during the pandemic. Study 2 employed a similar evaluation procedure but did so following an experimental induction of social exclusion. Exclusion fostered preferences for unmasked targets during a later stage of the pandemic. This research explores the dual signaling functions of masks, revealing their role in conveying both coalitional and interpersonal affiliations. Findings indicate heightened sensitivity to coalitional values, such as political affiliations, in Study 1. In contrast, Study 2 highlights the evaluation of masked and unmasked individuals based on their effectiveness in meeting interpersonal goals, particularly as the pandemic waned.