Open AccessSocial and behavioral consequences of mask policies during the COVID-19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Cornelia Betsch,
Lars Korn,
Philipp Sprengholz,
Lisa Felgendreff,
Sarah Eitze,
Philipp Schmid,
Robert Böhm
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2011674117
Subject(s) - compliance (psychology) , covid-19 , pandemic , german , psychology , social distance , turnover , social psychology , economics , medicine , virology , disease , archaeology , management , pathology , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty) , history
Mandatory and voluntary mask policies may have yet unknown social and behavioral consequences related to the effectiveness of the measure, stigmatization, and perceived fairness. Serial cross-sectional data (April 14 to May 26, 2020) from nearly 7,000 German participants demonstrate that implementing a mandatory policy increased actual compliance despite moderate acceptance; mask wearing correlated positively with other protective behaviors. A preregistered experiment (n = 925) further indicates that a voluntary policy would likely lead to insufficient compliance, would be perceived as less fair, and could intensify stigmatization. A mandatory policy appears to be an effective, fair, and socially responsible solution to curb transmissions of airborne viruses.