We conclude that public and political discussions concerning face masks should include not only evidence on the epidemiological and infectiological effects of face masks, but also on their social meanings and their social effects.There are many elements of a project that are important for teams to consider while completing a project successfully. In sum, our findings show how face masks serve as scripts for people to navigate their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. They also signaled specific moral or political stances on the side of face mask wearers and non-wearers alike, expressed their belonging to certain communities, or articulated concern. They were perceived as obstacles for non-verbal communication, but also a way to affirm friendships and maintain social contacts. Throughout the first year of the pandemic, we found that mask wearing had multiple and partly seemingly contradictory meanings for people. While in spring 2020 people wearing them had to fear stigmatization, in autumn of 2020 not wearing masks was more likely to be stigmatized. But what social meaning does it have, and how does this meaning express itself in people’s practice? Based on 413 qualitative interviews with residents in five European countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland), we found that the meanings of face masks have changed drastically during the first months of the pandemic. While most of the research explores their effectiveness to prevent the spread of the virus, a growing body of literature has found that using face masks also has social meaning. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, research has explored various aspects of face mask use. 5Centre for the Study of Contemporary Solidarity, Department of Political Science, University of Vienna, Austria.4Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, College of Business, University College Dublin, Ireland.3Centre for Sociological Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium.2Institute of Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Switzerland.1Institute of History and Ethics in Medicine, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Germany.

Kuiper 3, Fernandos Ongolly 4, Wanda Spahl 5, Barbara Prainsack 5* and Bettina M. Schönweitz 1, Johanna Eichinger 1, 2, Janneke M.

Artifact meaning