Question: To Mask Or Not

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the wearing of masks. President Donald Trump has refused to wear one in public. Some Republican lawmakers have mocked them, while nearly all Democratic lawmakers and a growing number of GOP officials are encouraging their constituents to don one. Every other day, a new report goes viral showing maskless patrons visibly upset after being denied access or services at certain businesses that mandate their use.

Amid the culture clash over masks, a new survey delved into the debate by asking the public to describe in their own words how they feel about wearing face coverings as well as their thoughts on those who do and don’t use them.

In a Morning Consult analysis conducted in June, 2,197 adults were asked whether they wear face masks and then provided a blank space to say why they do or don’t, as well as how they feel about mask-wearers and maskless people alike. The data was then compiled into groupings to find trends among respondents.

No dominant reason emerged from analyzing responses of the 11 percent who said they do not wear face masks. The most common refrain from those respondents centered on masks’ alleged ineffectiveness, despite U.S. and global health officials touting the ability of cloth coverings in limiting the aerial spread of respiratory droplets containing COVID-19. Nineteen percent of responses mentioned something about practicing social distancing, thus negating the need to wear masks, while 13 percent said they don’t wear them because they are uncomfortable.

While respondents who don’t wear face masks were relatively split in their rationales for doing so, there was a clear consensus among mask-wearers for why they choose to cover their faces.

The polling was conducted June 9-12, just before the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the South and West began to rise, with some governors in those states now requiring face masks in public places.