Resistance to masks during the COVID-19 pandemic : How user comments and presumed influence on others drive psychological reactance to health campaigns

Campaigns for mask-wearing became widespread on social media during the COVID-19 outbreak and have garnered varied responses in the form of comments. The present study conducts a 2 (comment slant: pro-mask wearing vs. anti-mask wearing) × 2 (comment tone: civil vs. uncivil) between-subjects experiment to investigate whether and how the slant and tone of comments accompanying a health campaign messaging affect people’s resistance toward the campaign. Results show anti-mask wearing comments or uncivil comments lead individuals to perceive a mask-promoting post as negatively affecting others’ attitudes toward mask-wearing. Such a perception, in turn, arouses individuals’ psychological reactance toward the post. Additionally, the presumed influence on others and psychological reactance, directly and indirectly, affect people’s attitudes and intention to wear masks.