Studies have shown that COVID-19 masks do not affect most social activities

The new study refutes the idea

In 2012, before masks became a fuse of political and cultural anxiety, psychology researchers at the University of Kansas and Wellesley College conducted an experiment on 250 college students and found that wearing masks had "no effect on interactions between students in terms of ease, authenticity, friendliness, emotion, discomfort, or fun

Each student was asked to chat with another participant who looked like himself, although both had to have the same gender and mask

Chris Clandall, the study's lead author and a professor of psychology at the University of Kansas, said: "Actually, we were disappointed because covering the face had almost no effect

When choosing a discussion subject that looked similar to themselves, the masked participants reported a distinctly different experience

Previously, the team conducted a similar student experiment, but instead of covering their faces, they covered half of the participants' bodies with black plastic bags — an obstacle that distorted normal social interactions

Angela Baines, an associate professor of psychology at Wellesley College and co-author of the paper, said: "I was surprised

Wearing masks hadn't yet become a hot political issue in 2012, but the researchers did collect survey data

"The research we did in 2012 can't be done

Beyond today's political and social significance, wearing masks did not hinder the social activities

"What exactly does masks do for social interaction?" At least in everyday interactions, you know, talking to people at the cash register, grocery store, gas station, or walking around, these everyday things of interacting with strangers, masks don't do much in