COVID-19's lasting impact: 'Less attractive' people wear masks more often than others, study finds

A new study published in Frontiers in Psychology says that people who think they are less attractive than others are likely to keep wearing masks when they're motivated to make good impressions.

"Our results consistently demonstrated that self-perceived unattractive individuals were more willing to wear a mask, as they believed it would benefit their attractiveness," the authors noted in the report.  "It is not unusual to discover that there was an unintended benefit …" People were questioned whether they would wear a mask during a job interview.  "Additionally, we looked into situations that involve one-time meetings."

The study's authors added, "Our findings suggest that mask-wearing can shift from being a self-protection measure during the COVID-19 pandemic to a self-presentation tactic in the post-pandemic era."