Why do we look prettier when we wear masks? - EMAK NEWS

The pandemic has been going on for almost two years. During that time we are friends with masks to maintain health. Eits, has anyone ever felt more good-looking with a mask?

The mysterious nuance seems to come out more if we wear a mask. There may be some of you who are much more confident wearing a mask than showing your nose and mouth. It turns out that this phenomenon has been studied a lot.

Reported by Psychology Today, there is a concept called amodal completion. Simply put, this concept explains that we are able to see an object as a whole even though some parts are missing or covered. For example, when we play hide and seek with our sister, if we see a head peeking from the wall, we can understand that our sister is behind the wall.

There are two very famous pictures to illustrate the concept of amodal completion. In the left image you may see just a triangle and a few cones, but we can see that it's a spiked ball. In the right image, we can see that it might be a snake or a sea monster even though the bottom is missing.

(Image: Wikimedia Commons/Peter Tse)

We can understand the complete form of the two images because we have seen the full form. If we have never seen the shape of a snake, we will most likely not perceive the right image as a snake.

It's like seeing people wearing masks. If we have met the person, our memory will provide information about the full shape of the person's face. If we rarely see each other or never, memory can't help.

Memory can't give info. Sight also cannot provide information because it is blocked by a mask. Finally, the information used to complete our image of a complete face is general information about where the nose and mouth are normally located.

Well, this general information is one of the constituents of the memory of the images we usually see. Generally we certainly see the ideal image. Finally, we see the part that is blocked by the mask with an ideal picture that may not be entirely true. We rarely imagine that person has a pimple or a mole on the nose. Surely what is thought is the ideal view.

Because we automatically see with an ideal image, of course when we see a real face that may not be as ideal as a shadow, it gives the impression that someone is more good looking with a mask.

A study conducted by Patel, et al (2020) found an interesting phenomenon. They analyzed the results of respondents' answers regarding photos of people not wearing masks and wearing masks.

There are three groups of photos, namely unattractive, average, and attractive. Respondents rated photos of people not wearing masks and wearing masks from each group. All of the unattractive groups were judged to be more attractive after using a mask.

For the average group, they were rated 73% more attractive after using the mask. This means they are more confident after wearing a mask. For the attractive group, after using a mask it was considered less attractive. Very unique right?

It's really natural to feel more good-looking with a mask. But, keep in mind that the main function of the mask is to protect yourself, except for the sheet mask, then it will make you look better