Transparent face masks restore emotional understanding, but not empathy

Transparent face masks restore emotional understanding, but not empathy - Mask-wearing has become the norm for many since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite their effectiveness in preventing the spread of viruses, opaque masks impair our ability to understand and convey emotions, a group of McGill researchers has found. McGill researchers Jelena Ristic , Full Professor in the Department of Psychology, and Sarah McCrackin , Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychology, discuss whether transparent masks reduce the negative impacts on social communication. Q&A with Jelena Ristic, Full Professor and Sarah McCrackin, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Psychology - What did you set out to find?. Because our group previously found that obscuring face parts significantly impairs our ability to perceive emotions, the goal of our latest research was to examine if covering the lower face also impacted our ability to relate to others emotionally. Then, we examined if transparent face masks were effective in restoring socio-communicative abilities, as they allow for visual transmission of facial cues. What is new or groundbreaking in this paper?.