MASK-WEARING IN SCHOOLS: THE EFFECT OF PERCEIVED HAPPINESS AND LIKEABILITY OF TEACHERS ON STUDENTS’ TASK MOTIVATION

Abstract

This study examines how the presence of a face mask, size of eyes (narrowed eyes vs. normally-opened eyes) and shape of lips (lip corners lifted vs. lip corners not lifted) interact to affect perceived happiness and likeability of teachers, and how perceived happiness and likeability of teachers ultimately affect student task motivation. Results found that maskwearing and the shape of lips individually predicted perceived happiness and likeability of teachers. Teachers were perceived to be less happy and likeable when they wore a mask than when they did not wear a mask, and when they did not lift their lip corners than when they lifted their lip corners. This study also found that perception of happiness relied more on cues from the mouth region than the eyes. While perceived happiness significantly predicted task motivation of students, this relationship was not explained by the likeability of the teacher. Since student task motivation increases when perceived happiness of teachers increases, teachers have to be cautious of their facial expressions in class and be more intentional in communicating their happiness to students to compensate for the decrease in perceived happiness due to mask-wearing.