Mask Psychology

Bini Dahal

A week ago, I got to catch up with one of my acquaintances for some work. While having a conversation, the person asked me why I was in my mask. Having fully immersed myself in the task at hand, I explained that I had forgotten to remove the mask. Me with my mask on was seemingly an ordinary act but the acquaintance tried to delve deeper into the matter, asking me if it had something to do with psychology. He mentioned how someone was researching post-pandemic and mask use, through a psychological lens. I simply smiled but deep down I wanted to reach home fast and run a full Google search on the same.

Immediately after returning home, I hopped on the internet and searched if wearing a mask post-pandemic had any linkages with psychology. And I came across a very interesting study. The study mentioned that individuals with higher self-perceived attractiveness had a lower intention to wear masks and vice-versa. So, this meant that based on how individuals perceived themselves, they were making use of the mask. Other studies have shown that wearing masks helped enhance perceived attractiveness among ‘unattractive’ individuals. 

After having gone through the research documents, I wondered how I perceived myself. On further introspection, all I could conclude was that I neither perceived myself too highly nor did I think of myself very lowly. But this middle-way perception did force me to rethink my habit of wearing a mask. For a long time, I have made sure to carry a mask and wear it unfailingly. This was the case even before the pandemic. Obviously, during COVID-19, it had become a norm. 

But each time I got out of home, I had to wear a mask. The rising pollution and my over-sensitive body demanded I protect myself from pollutants. While many find masks uncomfortable and even suffocating, I felt it was a protective shield for me. And let’s face it. Kathmandu is undeniably one of the most polluted cities in the globe. The ever-growing urbanisation and activities concerned with it are contributing factors. Geographically, the bowl-shaped structure of the Kathmandu Valley facilitates bad air quality. So, while it is very difficult to protect oneself from the harmful air and its effects, masks, to an extent, do provide necessary protection. 

Very limited studies have been conducted on masks but few of them state that by putting on the right kind of masks, in the short run, the human heart and the blood vessels are protected from urban air pollution. Coming back to the linkages between self-perceived attractiveness and wearing masks, I was forced to revisit our existing societal structure. As children, we were nonchalant and did not care about what others thought of us. However, with passing times, we become overly self-conscious. It was both the societal standards and some hollow norms set by the internet. 

Today, we are concerned about matters such as say ‘facial asymmetry’. Therefore, we are forced to find a deeper meaning when someone wears a mask. Also, it is this reason why we are bound to wear a mask to maintain the so-called attractiveness and not because there is a real ecological problem—pollution— positing a threat to our health!