Guys in Facemasks are Sexy Now, Says Research



A study just published in Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications looked at the effects of male facial occlusion on judgments of attractiveness by females. The effects were the same for both attractive and unattractive men.

The researchers got pictures of low- and high-attractiveness male faces covered with a medical mask, a cloth mask, a book, or nothing (see header pic). They then asked females to rate how attractive the faces were.

Here is how the ratings came out:


Basically, any covered face was significantly more attractive (meaning the difference is unlikely to be due to chance) than the uncovered face. This was true both for attractive and unattractive faces.  

This lack of difference between baseline attractiveness surprised the researchers. I suppose they reckoned that hiding features of an ugly face would work better than hiding those of a handsome face, but nope.

Also the medical mask was rated as significantly more attractive than the other two coverings.  As to why this is the case, the researchers speculate that

The advantage for a cloth mask can be attributed to the effect of occlusion, but the effect of the medical mask goes beyond just hiding undesirable features. It is possible that the additional advantage for medical masks comes from their associations with medical professionals. ...A similar association with the person being in a caring profession could explain the advantage for faces wearing medical masks. 

So there you go, guys. Those blue masks are chick-magnets!







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