Gender, face mask perceptions, and face mask wearing: Are men being dangerous during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Pers Individ Dif
; 170: 110417, 2021 Feb 15.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-837708
ABSTRACT
Recent popular press authors have proposed that men are less likely to wear face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate this notion in the current article by analyzing three extant datasets. We also assess the mediating effect of eight different face mask perceptions in the relation between gender and face mask wearing via the Face Mask Perceptions Scale. Across the three datasets, the sample-size weighted meta-analytic correlation between gender and face mask wearing was not statistically significant, and no face mask perception was a consistent mediator of this effect. Gender did have significant relations with two face mask perceptions, however. Men were more likely to perceive face masks as infringing on their independence, whereas women were more likely to perceive face masks as uncomfortable. Therefore, although gender does not relate to whether a person wears a face mask, it does relate to face mask perceptions. We offer several suggestions for research and practice from these results, such as the positioning of face mask wearing alongside passive health behaviors, the broader study of face mask perceptions' outcomes beyond face mask wearing, as well as the creation of interventions to target differing face mask perceptions across genders.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Reviews
Language:
English
Journal:
Pers Individ Dif
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.paid.2020.110417
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