Wearing an Anti-COVID Face Mask Predisposes to Spontaneity and Ideas’ Expression in Social Interactions: Findings from a Pilot Experiment

Can wearing an anti-COVID face mask bring any positive effects on social interactions? Based objective self-awareness theory (OSA), our pilot experiment tested whether anti-COVID-19 mask—a facial covering that should reduce self-focused attention—can predispose people to spontaneity in interactions. Upon randomization (N = 91), participants were asked either wear or not a while completing online survey assessed their willingness be spontaneous various imagined situations (e.g., express ideas public). As expected, who completed the reported higher levels of anticipated spontaneity, declaring they would have been more willing proposed interactions than those did mask. Results support hypothesis masks by drawing others’ focus away from person’s face. This effect seems eventually encourage people’s propensity and ideas’ expression Implications concerning both negative potential consequences this effect, as well possible directions for deepening study measures further testing self-awareness, are discussed.