Controversies still highlight concerns about mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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This study attempts to identify and categorize the critical concerns of wearing masks.
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The discomfort barriers, external factors, and usability issues are the primary concern categories.
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Public health authorities can devise more engaging ways to shape new social norms.
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Continuous and systematic communications to citizens can establish effective behavioral changes.
Abstract
This study attempts to identify and categorize the key concerns of wearing masks. An online survey was used to collect data from 2746 people in the United States. Results show that the mask-wearing concerns can be classified into three categories; discomfort barriers (physical discomfort and communication discomfort), external factors (overstated news about coronavirus threat, political beliefs, and absence of mask-wearing culture), and usability issues (lack of effectiveness, unnecessariness of masks in certain cases, and mask maintenance issues). The findings demonstrate that all mentioned concerns strongly shape people's attitudes toward wearing masks, except for political beliefs and lack of effectiveness.
