Quantifying the influence of face masks on the interpretation of non- verbal emotional communication

Abstract

In the healthcare sector, good non-verbal communication of doctors towards their patients is proven to be of major importance. The broad use of face masks in the healthcare sector, however, complicates the transmission of non-verbal cues. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, several studies showed early evidence that interpreting emotional expressions was done less accurate when the expressor wore a mask. However, compared to the vast amount of research considering face masks’ effectivity in reducing virus transmission, the number of studies regarding these communicative consequences pales into insignificance. More research is thus found to be necessary to be able to make a well-informed decision on whether wearing a mask is valuable. This study builds on the existing studies on the latter topic and takes a step towards quantifying the effect of face masks on the interpretation of non-verbal emotional communication. It does so by controlling for mask appearance, testing the influences of race and comparing effects of masks on distinguishing emotion valences with the same effects of showing only the upper face half. Results confirmed the negative effect of face masks on emotion recognition as seen in earlier studies. This effect was found to be similar to the effect of half faces, stressing its magnitude and implying that mask-wearing faces are encoded purely through the facial features in the upper face half. For Asian faces in particular, the effect of face masks was strongest. As people of Asian ethnicity are suggested to show lower intensity facial expressions, it is implied that high intensity emotion display in the facial features in the upper face half is important for nuancing masks’ negative effect on emotional communication. In conclusion, limitations of this study and its implications for the healthcare sector are discussed.