Poster #101 - Correlates of Young Women’s Interest in Cosmetic Surgery

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Health, Growth, Injury

Integrative Statement

Background. Cosmetic surgery is increasingly popular with 14.5 million cosmetic procedures performed in 2017 (1.4 million surgical), 92% of which were performed on women (American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2018). According to objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), women may be motivated to obtain cosmetic surgery because the larger culture judges women’s bodies using rigid standards of thinness and beauty. Women often begin to act as observers of their own bodies and judge them in the same strict way. In order to “correct” perceived flaws, women may pursue cosmetic surgery, which can be risky for their health (Markey & Markey, 2015). Problem Behavior Syndrome (Jessor, 1987) suggests that risk behaviors tend to co-occur, and these risk behaviors may be appearance-focused such as obtaining cosmetic surgery and engaging in unhealthy weight management practices (Gillen & Markey, 2017). Using these two theories as frameworks, we examined associations between young women’s interest in cosmetic surgery, self-objectification, and eating behavior.
Method. Undergraduate women (N = 164; Mage= 20.27, SD = 3.90) participated in a study for course credit. Participants self-reported their height and weight (for BMI). They also completed the Interest in Cosmetic Surgery Questionnaire (Markey & Markey, 2009), and two subscales (body surveillance and body shame) of the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (McKinley & Hyde, 1996), designed to measure self-objectification. Eating behavior was measured by the Weight Control Behavior Scale (French et al., 1995), with two subscales for healthy and unhealthy weight management behaviors.
Results. Interest in cosmetic surgery was significantly correlated with all variables except for healthy weight management behaviors (see Table 1). Women who were more interested in cosmetic surgery had higher BMIs, body surveillance, body shame, and unhealthy weight management behaviors. Next, a regression was performed to determine the explanatory value of these variables when entered simultaneously to predict interest in cosmetic surgery. The variables explained 26% of the variance (p = .000), and the uniquely significant predictors were BMI (β = .18) and unhealthy weight management (β = .27; ps < .05).
Discussion. Results suggest that Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) and Problem Behavior Syndrome (Jessor, 1987) are potential frameworks for understanding women’s interest in cosmetic surgery. Women who were more interested in cosmetic surgery tended to report more self-objectification, particularly body shame. Objectifying one’s own body through evaluating it and reflecting on its perceived flaws may lead women to consider strategies to enhance their appearance, such as cosmetic surgery. Results also suggest that appearance-related risk behaviors may co-occur, as articulated by Problem Behavior Syndrome. Women who engage in unhealthy weight management behaviors to achieve a leaner appearance may also be interested in cosmetic surgery to improve their looks. Future research should examine factors that may attenuate women’s interest in cosmetic surgery, such as positive body image.
 

Authors

• Meghan Gillen, Penn State Abington
  Presenting Author

• Charlotte Markey, Rutgers University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jamie Dunaev, Rutgers University
  Non-Presenting Author