I think Terror Management Theory [0] explains this contradiction fairly robustly: Sheldon Solomon found that reminding people of their mortality, even subtly, increased their support for hostility to out-groups, military intervention, etc.
When it comes to COVID, anti-masking is arguably a form of coping with a reminder of mortality, by "minimizing one's perception of the threat" [1]: that the virus is "not nearly as contagious or lethal as health experts claim it to be" or "originating in a politically motivated conspiracy".
When it comes to COVID, anti-masking is arguably a form of coping with a reminder of mortality, by "minimizing one's perception of the threat" [1]: that the virus is "not nearly as contagious or lethal as health experts claim it to be" or "originating in a politically motivated conspiracy".
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terror_management_theory
[1] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00221678209594...