Face masks make people look more attractive, study finds
研究發現，戴口罩讓人看起來更有魅力
There have been precious few positives during the Covid pandemic but British academics may have unearthed one: people look more attractive in protective masks.
新冠疫情期間幾乎沒有什麼積極正面的事情，但英國學者可能已經發現了一個：戴防護口罩的人看起來更具吸引力。
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.
卡迪夫大學的研究人員驚訝地發現，被遮住下半張臉的男性和女性都被認為看起來更好看了。
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 surgical mask was likely to be deemed the most appealing.
他們還發現，戴著一次性醫用口罩的人很可能被認為是最具有吸引力的，這對時尚口罩生產商和環境來說可能是一個衝擊。
Dr Michael Lewis, a reader from Cardiff University’s school of psychology 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. 「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.
卡迪夫大學心理學院的讀者、面部專家麥可·劉易斯博士表示，疫情之前進行的研究發現，醫用口罩會降低吸引力，因為它們與疾病相關。他說：「我們想要檢驗的是，自從口罩變得無處不在以來，這種情況是否有所改變，並了解口罩的類型是否會對結果有影響。」
重點詞彙
1. unearth /ʌnˈɜːθ/ to discover proof or some other information, especially after careful searching 發現
- A private detective has unearthed some fresh evidence.
2. obscure /əbˈskjʊər/ to prevent something from being seen or heard 遮擋
- The sun was obscured by clouds.
3. disposable /dɪˈspəʊ.zə.bəl/ intended to be thrown away after use 一次性的，用完即丟棄的
- The market no longer offers disposable plastic bags at checkout.
4. deem /diːm/ to consider or judge something in a particular way 認為
- The area has now been deemed safe.
5. ubiquitous /juːˈbɪk.wɪ.təs/ seeming to be everywhere 無所不在的
- Leather is very much in fashion this season, as is the ubiquitous denim.
重點句型
1. … that both men and women were judged to look better …
- 該句是that引導的賓語從句，引導詞that無實義且在句中不充當成分，可省略。
2. …what may be a blow for producers of fashionable coverings...
- 該句是what引導的賓語從句，引導詞what在句中充當主語，不可省略。
延伸閱讀
「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 reassuring and so feel more positive towards the wearer.」
「我們的研究表明，人們認為戴著醫用口罩的臉最具吸引力。這可能是因為我們習慣了醫護人員戴藍色口罩，所以現在我們把藍色口罩與醫護專業人士聯繫在一起。在我們感到容易生病的時候，我們可能會覺得戴醫用口罩讓人放心，因此對佩戴它們的人態度更加積極。」
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月進行的，那時英國人已經習慣在某些情況下戴口罩。43名女性被要求給不戴口罩、戴普通布口罩、戴藍色醫用口罩和拿著一本普通黑色書遮住口罩能遮住的區域的男性面部照片的吸引力打分，1分到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.
參與者表示，那些戴著布口罩的人比那些沒戴口罩或用書遮臉的人更有吸引力。但外科口罩——就是那種普通的一次性口罩——會讓佩戴者看起來更好看。