Open AccessThe Impact of Face Masks on the Emotional Reading Abilities of Children—A Lesson From a Joint School–University Project
Author(s) -
Claus-Christian Carbon,
Martin M. Serrano
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
i-perception
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 2041-6695
DOI - 10.1177/20416695211038265
Subject(s) - sadness , disgust , happiness , anger , psychology , reading (process) , perception , nonverbal communication , face (sociological concept) , developmental psychology , association (psychology) , empirical research , social psychology , cognitive psychology , psychotherapist , social science , philosophy , sociology , epistemology , neuroscience , political science , law
Wearing face masks has become a usual practice in acute infection events inducing the problem of misinterpreting the emotions of others. Empirical evidence about face masks mainly relies on adult data, neglecting, for example, school kids who firmly are dependent on effective nonverbal communication. Here we offer insights from a joint school–university project. Data indicate that emotional reading of 9 to 10 years old pupils ( N = 57) was similarly impaired as adults on an overall performance level, but that their selective performance on specific emotions was quite different. Kids showed extreme problems in reading the emotion disgust, strong effects on fear and sadness, and only mild effects on happiness, but also even better performances for emotional states anger and neutral when faces were masked. This project did gain not only relevant data about children’s perception but also made clear how fruitful seriously conducted school projects can be to encourage the interest and commitment for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-relevant topics.