When face masks signal social identity: Explaining the deep face-mask divide during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging and the vaccination program still rolling out, there continues to be an immediate need for public health officials to better understand the mechanisms behind the deep and perpetual divide over face masks in America. Using a random sample of Americans (N = 615)...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2021-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253195 |
| _version_ | 1819012549419466752 |
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| author | Nattavudh Powdthavee Yohanes E Riyanto Erwin C L Wong Jonathan X W Yeo Qi Yu Chan |
| author_facet | Nattavudh Powdthavee Yohanes E Riyanto Erwin C L Wong Jonathan X W Yeo Qi Yu Chan |
| author_sort | Nattavudh Powdthavee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging and the vaccination program still rolling out, there continues to be an immediate need for public health officials to better understand the mechanisms behind the deep and perpetual divide over face masks in America. Using a random sample of Americans (N = 615), following a pre-registered experimental design and analysis plan, we first demonstrated that mask wearers were not innately more cooperative as individuals than non-mask wearers in the Prisoners' Dilemma (PD) game when information about their own and the other person's mask usage was not salient. However, we found strong evidence of in-group favouritism among both mask and non-mask wearers when information about the other partner's mask usage was known. Non-mask wearers were 23 percentage points less likely to cooperate than mask wearers when facing a mask-wearing partner, and 26 percentage points more likely to cooperate than mask wearers when facing a non-mask-wearing partner. Our analysis suggests social identity effects as the primary reason behind people's decision whether to wear face masks during the pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T01:45:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cb65d49dea4e46c4894f9bc8e38ff783 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T01:45:49Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-cb65d49dea4e46c4894f9bc8e38ff7832022-12-21T19:20:01ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-01166e025319510.1371/journal.pone.0253195When face masks signal social identity: Explaining the deep face-mask divide during the COVID-19 pandemic.Nattavudh PowdthaveeYohanes E RiyantoErwin C L WongJonathan X W YeoQi Yu ChanWith the COVID-19 pandemic still raging and the vaccination program still rolling out, there continues to be an immediate need for public health officials to better understand the mechanisms behind the deep and perpetual divide over face masks in America. Using a random sample of Americans (N = 615), following a pre-registered experimental design and analysis plan, we first demonstrated that mask wearers were not innately more cooperative as individuals than non-mask wearers in the Prisoners' Dilemma (PD) game when information about their own and the other person's mask usage was not salient. However, we found strong evidence of in-group favouritism among both mask and non-mask wearers when information about the other partner's mask usage was known. Non-mask wearers were 23 percentage points less likely to cooperate than mask wearers when facing a mask-wearing partner, and 26 percentage points more likely to cooperate than mask wearers when facing a non-mask-wearing partner. Our analysis suggests social identity effects as the primary reason behind people's decision whether to wear face masks during the pandemic.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253195 |
| spellingShingle | Nattavudh Powdthavee Yohanes E Riyanto Erwin C L Wong Jonathan X W Yeo Qi Yu Chan When face masks signal social identity: Explaining the deep face-mask divide during the COVID-19 pandemic. PLoS ONE |
| title | When face masks signal social identity: Explaining the deep face-mask divide during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_full | When face masks signal social identity: Explaining the deep face-mask divide during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_fullStr | When face masks signal social identity: Explaining the deep face-mask divide during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_full_unstemmed | When face masks signal social identity: Explaining the deep face-mask divide during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_short | When face masks signal social identity: Explaining the deep face-mask divide during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_sort | when face masks signal social identity explaining the deep face mask divide during the covid 19 pandemic |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253195 |
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