Learned helplessness is certainly one aspect. However, a significant portion of the maskers derives a sense of meaning from it. Their mask wearing demonstrates to others that they stand, heroically perhaps, against this terrible disease. They are the good guys and the more people around them drop their masks the more entrenched their position will become.
The flea in the glass jar story is a great visual reminder of what limits us and I suppose is the heart of the "mass formation" that has been applied to us all. Loved the Eagle Rock Singers. I heard an interview with Dr Mattias Desmet of Ghent University in Belgium. Some doubt the mass formation theory but it makes sense to me. Here is a link with a summary - https://thomascasey.wordpress.com/2021/08/28/mass-formation-by-dr-mattias-desmet-professor-of-psychology-university-of-ghent/
Learned helplessness is certainly one aspect. However, a significant portion of the maskers derives a sense of meaning from it. Their mask wearing demonstrates to others that they stand, heroically perhaps, against this terrible disease. They are the good guys and the more people around them drop their masks the more entrenched their position will become.