Why Eye-Contact Is Essential When You’re Wearing a Face-Mask
They say that ‘the eyes are the gateway to the soul’ — we now have the opportunity to test that theory.
Before the advent of COVID-19, I could count on one hand the number of times that I’d worn a face-mask and they all involved me sanding some kind of wood during Wood-Work class in high school. The pandemic has forced all of us to become well acquainted with wearing a face-mask and, if legislation in my country is anything to go by, our use of face-masks is only going to increase. On the 15th of June, face-masks became mandatory on public transport throughout England, and on the 24th of June, they will also be mandatory in shops and supermarkets. Additionally, many other public services across England, such as doctor’s surgeries, have made face-masks compulsory for the people using their services. Whilst other countries around the world may have slightly different legislation and guidance in place regarding the wearing of face-masks, it’s fair to say that most of us have to prepare for life in a world where one of the most expressive features of our faces, our mouths, are hidden from view.
I recently wrote about the rare moments of joy I’ve experienced through smiling at strangers (from a socially acceptable distance) during this pandemic. In that article, I championed the power of the humble smile to create a bridge that connects one human to another. What with the increasing prevalence of face-mask wearing, I have been asking my self recently what can I do to create that same connection with other people without having a smile at my disposal?
The emotion in our eyes
Earlier I referred to the mouth as being one of the most expressive parts of the face, whilst this is a personal opinion, it was also the conclusion that was reached in a recent study conducted by the Department of Psychology at Bielefeld University in Germany. The study aimed to discern how different parts of the face contribute to emotional recognition. The authors used a technique called “fine-grained masking” on pictures of faces that represented different emotions, which involved the faces being covered by a 6x8 grid of white tiles, which were removed at one-second intervals to reveal different…
