The 2012 research by Adrian Furnham and James Levitas titled "Factors that motivate people to undergo cosmetic surgery" examined the psychological and social elements which affect people's views about cosmetic surgery. The research included 204 British participants who answered questionnaires about their self-esteem and life satisfaction and their self-assessment of physical attractiveness and religiosity and media usage. The factor analysis showed that attitudes toward cosmetic surgery contained two primary elements which included the willingness to undergo surgery and the perceived advantages of undergoing surgery. The research showed that women who had poor self-esteem and unsatisfactory life satisfaction and who rated their appearance lower and had weak religious beliefs and watched television frequently considered undergoing cosmetic surgery. The study found that low self-esteem and minimal religious beliefs directly affected the decision to undergo surgery but media exposure and life satisfaction and gender influenced the perceived advantages of surgery. The belief in surgical benefits grew stronger through media exposure especially television while religious beliefs became a factor that discouraged people from surgery. The research demonstrates how psychological factors together with social elements and cultural influences shape attitudes toward cosmetic procedures while showing how knowledge of these motivators enables healthcare providers and policymakers to address underlying concerns driving individuals to seek surgery.
Reference: Furnham and Levitas (2012) examined the reasons people choose cosmetic surgery, highlighting social, cultural, and personal drivers of these decisions. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24294026/ is this related
Further Reading: ScienceDirect (2023). Exploring the impact of psychological factors on cosmetic surgery. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352914823000734
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