To wear or not to wear? The influence of regulatory focus and individual cultural orientation on face mask wearing

During the COVID-19 pandemic, much focus has been placed on the healthcare benefits of wearing face masks, yet some people resist wearing them. Though mask mandates may enhance face mask adoption in the short run, the effectiveness of such mandates, in the long run, remains questionable. Thus, understanding of psychological and sociological mechanisms behind wearing face masks becomes pertinent. This study by examining these underlying mechanisms, tends to answer two research questions: (1) How does regulatory focus impact one's behavior to wear face masks? (2) How does the impact of regulatory focus on this behavior vary under different cultural orientations? Drawing on the theory of regulatory fit, we found that people with a prevention focus will have fewer concerns about wearing face masks than people with a promotion focus. In addition, we also found that prevention-focused people who exhibited a cultural orientation with higher levels of collectivism, masculinity, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance had fewer concerns about face mask wearing perception and were more likely to wear face masks than did promotion-focused people with the same cultural orientation. The implications of these findings on the relevant literature and practice are also discussed.