The influence of social anxiety, trait anxiety, and perceived vulnerability to disease on the frequency of face mask wearing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychological factors related to the frequency of face mask wearing (mask wearing) among Japanese people. Specifically, the influence of social anxiety (scrutiny fears, social interaction anxiety), trait anxiety, and perceived vulnerability to disease (germ aversion, perceived infectability) on mask wearing frequency was examined. We also investigated whether the relationships were altered based on the COVID-19 pandemic and the seasons. Online surveys (N=6,742) were conducted in the summer and winter seasons from Aug. 2018 to Dec. 2020. Results showed that scrutiny fears, perceived infectability (but only in the winter season), and germ aversion affected the frequency of mask wearing before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the relationships were altered as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. Scrutiny fears and perceived infectability did not play a role in the frequency of mask wearing. These alternations of results could be derived from the increase in mask wearing rate, changes in the reasons to wear masks among Japanese people, and elevation of perceived risk to COVID-19 due to the increased transmission.