戴着口罩呼吸不畅，说话吃东西也不方便，大家都很怀念不戴口罩的日子，但是有一个好消息也许能让你再继续撑下去，那就是研究发现，戴口罩能让人看上去更有魅力！

 

There have been precious few positives during the Covid pandemic but British academics may have unearthed¹ one: people look more attractive in protective masks.

新冠疫情期间的正面新闻少之又少，然而英国学者们却给我们带来了一则积极的讯息，那就是戴口罩会让人看起来更有魅力。

 

Researchers at Cardiff University were surprised to find that both men and women were judged to look better with a face covering obscuring the lower half of their faces.

卡迪夫大学的研究人员惊讶地发现，在脸的下半部分被遮住时，男性和女性看上去都更有魅力了。

 

In what may be a blow for producers of fashionable coverings – and the environment – they also discovered that a face covered with a disposable-type surgical² mask was likely to be deemed the most appealing.

研究人员还发现，戴一次性外科口罩的脸被认为最有吸引力，这也许对时尚口罩的生产商和环境都是一个打击。

 

Dr Michael Lewis, a reader from Cardiff University’s school of psychology³ and an expert in faces, said research carried out before the pandemic had found that medical face masks reduced attractiveness because they were associated with disease or illness.

卡迪夫大学心理学院高级讲师、面部专家迈克尔·路易斯博士表示，疫情前开展的研究发现，由于口罩和疾病的关联性，戴医用口罩会降低魅力值。

 

"We wanted to test whether this had changed since face coverings became ubiquitous and understand whether the type of mask had any effect,” he said.

他说：“如今口罩无处不在，我们想测试这种情况是否发生了改变，并了解不同类型的口罩对魅力值有什么影响。”

 

"Our study suggests faces are considered most attractive when covered by medical face masks. This may be because we’re used to healthcare workers wearing blue masks and now we associate these with people in caring or medical professions. At a time when we feel vulnerable, we may find the wearing of medical masks reassuring⁴ and so feel more positive towards the wearer.”

“我们的研究表明，人们在佩戴医用口罩时看起来最有魅力。这可能是因为我们习惯看医护人员佩戴蓝色口罩，所以将蓝色口罩和这些人联系在一起。当我们感觉脆弱时，我们可能会觉得戴医用口罩让人很安心，因此对戴医用口罩的人更有好感。”

 

The first part of the research was carried out in February 2021 by which time the British population had become used to wearing masks in some circumstances. Forty-three women were asked to rate on a scale of one to 10 the attractiveness of images of male faces without a mask, wearing a plain cloth mask, a blue medical face mask, and holding a plain black book covering the area a face mask would hide.

研究的第一部分是在2021年2月开展的，当时英国人已经习惯在某些情况下佩戴口罩。研究人员让43名女性分别给不戴口罩、戴棉布口罩、戴蓝色医用口罩或用黑色书盖住下半部分脸的男性颜值打分，最低1分，最高10分。

 

The participants said those wearing a cloth mask were significantly more attractive than the ones with no masks or whose faces were partly obscured by the book. But the surgical mask – which was just a normal, disposable kind – made the wearer look even better.

参与者表示，戴棉布口罩的人比不戴口罩或一部分脸被书遮住的人看起来有魅力得多。但是戴一次性普通外科口罩的人看起来最有魅力。

 

"The results run counter to the pre-pandemic research where it was thought masks made people think about disease and the person should be avoided,” said Lewis.

路易斯称：“这一研究结果与疫情前的研究结果相反，疫情前的那次研究认为口罩会让人联想到疾病，从而让人想远离戴口罩的人。”

 

"The pandemic has changed our psychology in how we perceive the wearers of masks. When we see someone wearing a mask we no longer think ‘that person has a disease, I need to stay away’.

“疫情改变了我们看待口罩佩戴者的心理。当我们看到有人戴口罩时，我们想到的不再是‘那人有病，我得离远点’。”

 

Lewis said it was also possible that masks made people more attractive because they directed attention to the eyes. He said other studies had found that covering the left or right half of a face also made people look more attractive, partly because the brain fills in the missing gaps and exaggerates the overall impact.

路易斯表示，口罩让人显得更有魅力，也可能是因为戴口罩会让人的注意力转移到眼部。他指出，其他研究发现，遮住左半部或右半部脸会让人看起来更有魅力，某种程度上是因为人们会脑补另一半脸，从而美化整体效果。

 

The results of the first study has been published in the journal Cognitive⁵ Research: Principles and Implications. A second study has been carried out, in which a group of men look at women in masks; it has yet to be published but Lewis said the results were broadly the same.

该研究的第一项研究结果已发表在期刊《认知研究：原则与启示》上。第二项研究也已经完成，这次是一组男性来给戴不同口罩的女性打分。虽然还未发表，但是路易斯表示结果大致相同。

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