Masking is good, but conforming is better: The consequences of masking non-conformity within the college classroom.

Masking is good, but conforming is better: The consequences of masking non-conformity within the college classroom.

Publication date: Jan 17, 2025

In the years following the acute COVID-19 crisis, facemask mandates became increasingly rare, rendering masking a highly visible personal choice. Across three studies conducted in the U. S. in 2022 and 2023 (N = 2,973), the current work provided a novel exploration of the potential impacts of adhering to vs. deviating from group masking norms within college classrooms. Experiments 1 and 2 used causal methods to assess the impact of hypothetical target students’ masking behavior on participants’ beliefs about that student’s classroom fit (e. g., how well they fit in, how much their professor likes them, whether they are invited to study group). Maskers were expected to experience more classroom inclusion relative to non-maskers, but the largest effects were conformity effects: participants expected that students who deviated from a class’s dominant mask-wearing behavior would experience massively lower classroom fit. Study 3 used correlational and qualitative methods to establish the real-world impact of mask conformity in a diverse sample of college students. Students reported believing that masking-and mask conformity-impacted others’ perceptions of them, and reported avoiding deviating from masking norms. Students reported that their desire for mask-conformity impacted both their willingness to enroll in courses and their actual masking behavior, suggesting both academic and public health impacts. Across all three studies, we asked whether pressures to conform have disproportionate effects on particular groups, by exploring the effects of gender (Studies 1 and 3), immune-status (Studies 2 and 3) and race (Study 3). Our data raise important issues that should be considered when determining whether to e. g., enact mask mandates within college classrooms and beyond, and for understanding the cognitive and social consequences of mask wearing.

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Concepts Keywords
Classrooms Adolescent
Covid Adult
Race COVID-19
Rare Female
Humans
Male
Masks
SARS-CoV-2
Social Conformity
Students
Universities
Young Adult

Semantics

Type Source Name
drug DRUGBANK Tropicamide
disease MESH COVID-19
disease IDO history
disease IDO process
pathway REACTOME Reproduction
drug DRUGBANK Spinosad
disease MESH infection
disease IDO role
drug DRUGBANK Methionine
disease MESH complications
disease MESH deviant behavior
drug DRUGBANK Ilex paraguariensis leaf
drug DRUGBANK Sulpiride
drug DRUGBANK Indoleacetic acid
drug DRUGBANK Aspartame
drug DRUGBANK Coenzyme M
disease MESH death
drug DRUGBANK Trihexyphenidyl
drug DRUGBANK L-Aspartic Acid
disease MESH Substance Abuse
disease MESH tics
disease IDO immunosuppression
disease MESH Breakthrough Infection
disease MESH Allergy
disease MESH Community Spread
disease MESH cancer
disease IDO intervention

Original Article

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