Connections to the Literature

Hypothesis 1:

The current study specifically addressed the role of psychological resources (affected by fear) on distance perception, specifically through the presence and absence of masks.

The results indicate that the presence (and absence) of face masks does alter distance perception in individuals. Consistent with my hypothesis, participants perceived virtual characters to be closer when they were depicted as not wearing a mask than when they were wearing one.

The results of my study are consistent with previous research looking at the impact of psychological factors on perception. Previous research on fear and anxiety in perception found that objects that are fear are perceived as being closer and bigger than they actually are (Rachman & Cuk, 1992; Clerkin and colleagues, 2008; Stefanucci and Proffit, 2009).

In the current study, an anxious/fearful state was created when virtual characters were depicted as not wearing a mask, and calmer states were created when these characters were depicted as wearing one.

Participants in the study displayed closer distance perceptions when in the “anxious” condition compared to the “calm.” This suggests that the underestimation bias also occurs in other situations where fear is an influencing factor.

Hypothesis 2:

Contrary to my hypothesis, familiarity did not alter participant distance perception.

Previous research suggests that the presence of out-group members decreases the amount of perceived distance between that member and a person of the in-group (i.e., they are perceived as being closer; Xiao & Bavel, 2012).

The results of my study do not align with this research. This may have occurred based on the scenarios (brief statements) that were presented in the second experiment describing a stranger or a friend. These scenarios may not have been long or strong enough to generate the feeling of familiarity needed. Thus, the results obtained may not accurately portray the role that familiarity plays in distance perception.

Limitations

1) The virtual task that was utilized in this experiment has not been previously compared to real-world distance estimations. Virtual stimuli may not simulate the presence of an actual human being in a real-world setting, especially because in a virtual task, participants know they are not at risk of being infected.

The use of a virtual environment can provide many advantages such as ease of access to participants and control over extraneous variables, but it is important to note that the results of the study should be interpreted cautiously. Although the results of my study indicate an effect of mask-wearing, participants, when encountered with human beings in a natural setting, may experience the effect of masks differently. 

2) Several constraints to the diversity of the sample of participants were present in the study. This study’s participant pool consisted largely of Caucasian, female individuals. A lack of diversity in race and gender constricted my ability to analyze these factors and inhibited my ability to generalize the findings to other groups.

It may be possible that other races and genders, perhaps those who are at a higher risk of developing disease, including coronavirus (such as African Americans; John Hopkins Research Center, 2021), may interpret the distances of these characters differently. 

Future Research

1) It would be beneficial to start by conducting an equivalent experiment but in a natural setting with actual humans. It would be advantageous to understand the influence of masks as it pertains to actual human interaction before further investigating the other effects that mask wearing may have on perception. 

2) A greater generalizability to clinically relevant populations should be aimed for as well in these studies. The present study allowed for simple systematic investigation of the impact of two specific variables (mask-wearing and familiarity) on distance perception, but additional variables should be addressed as well as perception is made up of a variety of factors that occur simultaneously.