Why are so many British Columbians still wearing masks indoors?

B.C.’s indoor mask mandate was lifted on Friday, but at movie theatres, malls and grocery stores across the province, many people are still choosing to wear face coverings.

University of British Columbia psychology professor and author of the book The Psychology of Pandemics, Dr. Steven Taylor, says it’s not necessarily out of concern for their health.

"We have had this experience where people have been punished or shamed or ridiculed for not doing the right thing, and you get these transitions where people are asking, 'am I doing the right thing? The rule says I don’t have to wear a mask, but what about the community sentiment,'” said Taylor.

He believes many people will follow what others around them are doing, as evidenced by the almost entirely maskless crowd at Vancouver Canucks games at Rogers Arena this past weekend. Taylor argues some of those same people would put on a mask at a grocery store if they noticed most other customers were masked up.

"Some stores I went in, 50 per cent were wearing masks, and then other stores maybe 90 per cent. So I’ve been picking up the cues and thinking yeah, there are places where I can understand people would be more likely to wear masks out of concern for anxiety levels of other people, and a bit of conformity as well," said Taylor.

Some of the cues come from staff at the indoor venue.

At Landmark Theatre in New Westminster, where management has asked employees to continue to wear a mask for the time being, the majority of movie-goers wore one too.

Taylor said he’s seen the opposite as well. "If you walk into some stores and none of the staff are masked up, a lot more of the patrons are not wearing masks."

Four days after the mandate was lifted, there are plenty of masks still being worn indoors in B.C. But Taylor doesn’t think it will last.

"Give it a couple of weeks and many people will become more comfortable not wearing masks out in public," he said.

Bill Walker, the CEO of Landmark Theatres agrees. "I would certainly say here in Alberta, in the first weeks there was more mask wearing, and that’s progressively just declined," he said.

He expects the same will happen in B.C., but says movie-goers will always be welcome to mask up.

"Some people have their venues that they choose a mask is appropriate and others they don’t, and I think that’s entirely reasonable," Walker said, adding: "Ultimately we are trying to make it welcoming and open for everybody. And we certainly encourage those who want to wear it to feel more comfortable, we are all in."