A survey from happn has found that wearing face coverings might be causing singles to stop approaching each other in public.
Potential daters are being discouraged from asking people out when they can’t see the regular facial cues, such as a smile, that act as offers of encouragement or mutual attraction.
The new survey found that nearly a quarter of singles feel it would be difficult to tell if somebody was attractive whilst wearing a mask. Furthermore, 46% of respondents said that they actively couldn’t feel attracted to someone without seeing their mouth.
Marine Ravinet, head of trends at happn, explained in a statement: “Connections can be formed in all different ways, however we know that that initial moment of attraction is difficult to ignore.
“That being said, with our approaches to dating changing so dramatically over the past few months, it’s no surprise that singles are finding new ways to build confidence after being out of the game for a while.”
Younger people were more likely to say they could find someone attractive without seeing their mouth or lower face. 57% of 18-34 year olds said they would be able to, compare to 29% of 45-55 year olds.
Similar patterns emerged when asked if they could fall for someone who was wearing a mask. 38% of millennials said they could if it was just a case of really fancying them.
However, it’s worth noting that singles may not want to approach each other due to hygiene concerns from the COVID-19 outbreak, rather than their faces being obscured.
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