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Reasons for Preventing Us to Get More Attractive: the Fear of Aesthetic Surgery

Received: 25 April 2016     Accepted: 25 May 2016     Published: 30 June 2016
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Abstract

Nowadays, with the help of cosmetic surgery almost every woman and man can achieve a highly attractive appearance. But many people do not take advantage of these opportunities. Task: This pilot-study investigates individual attitudes of people towards aesthetic plastic surgery and analyzes factors which may play a role in the development of a decision for or against aesthetic surgery. This study emphasizes different aspects of people, who are unsatisfied with their body appearance, to decide for or against a cosmetic surgery. Especially individual fears of complications or pain and possible negative consequences were investigated. Furthermore, the influence of the personal trait extraversion/introversion and the educational level of the participants were analyzed. In addition, this survey evaluated gender-specific differences towards plastic surgery and research differences with regard to costs of a “beauty surgery”. Methods: A questionnaire was developed which combined self-developed items for a measurement of attitudes towards plastic surgery. In addition, items of the “Freiburger Personality Inventory” (FPI-R) were used. The study was conducted in Hamburg/Germany. 104 test persons participated in the survey (81 females, 23 males, age 20 – 30 y.). 86 of the participants (82.7%) had an A-level as degree of education, 14.4% achieved the secondary school certificate and 2.9% had completed their bachelor on a high school. Results: The data supported the hypothesis that people who are unsatisfied with their body appearance showed more willingness for a surgical intervention. On the other hand fear of complications and pain as far as anxiety before an unsatisfactory result hinders them from a decision for an intervention. Significant correlations with regard to extraversion-introversion and the education level were not found. Females showed more willingness regarding an intervention than men. Gender-specific differences concerning the cost factor were not found. Conclusion: Interestingly, more than 65% of the total sample (n=104) felt a dissatisfaction with a specific body part and are thus target of aesthetic surgery. The yellow press often reports about failed cosmetic surgery, especially in VIP-persons. Aesthetic surgery should keep working to reduce unwarranted fears of people toward these kinds of operations.

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.hss.20160404.11
Page(s) 83-89
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Plastic Surgery, Operation, Attractiveness, Intervention for Beauty, Cosmetic Intervention

References
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[6] Fahrenberg, J., Hampel, R., Selg, H.: Freiburger Persönlichkeitsinventar. In: Testzentrale. Stand 2010. URL: http://www.testzentrale.de/programm/freiburger-personlichkeitsinventar.html.
[7] Markey, C., Markey, P.: Correlates of Young Women’s Interest in Obtaining Cosmetic Surgery. In: Sex Roles 61, S. 158–166, 2009.
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[14] Mishra, B., Koirala, R., Tripathi, N., Shrestha, K. R., Adhikary, B. & Shah, S.: Plastic Surgery—Myths and Realities in Developing Countries: Experience from Eastern Nepal. Plast Surg Int. 2011; 2011: 870902. doi: 10.1155/2011/870902.
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  • APA Style

    Mona Leitermann, Klaus Hoffmann, Erich Kasten. (2016). Reasons for Preventing Us to Get More Attractive: the Fear of Aesthetic Surgery. Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(4), 83-89. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20160404.11

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    ACS Style

    Mona Leitermann; Klaus Hoffmann; Erich Kasten. Reasons for Preventing Us to Get More Attractive: the Fear of Aesthetic Surgery. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2016, 4(4), 83-89. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20160404.11

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    AMA Style

    Mona Leitermann, Klaus Hoffmann, Erich Kasten. Reasons for Preventing Us to Get More Attractive: the Fear of Aesthetic Surgery. Humanit Soc Sci. 2016;4(4):83-89. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20160404.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.hss.20160404.11,
      author = {Mona Leitermann and Klaus Hoffmann and Erich Kasten},
      title = {Reasons for Preventing Us to Get More Attractive: the Fear of Aesthetic Surgery},
      journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
      volume = {4},
      number = {4},
      pages = {83-89},
      doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20160404.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20160404.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20160404.11},
      abstract = {Nowadays, with the help of cosmetic surgery almost every woman and man can achieve a highly attractive appearance. But many people do not take advantage of these opportunities. Task: This pilot-study investigates individual attitudes of people towards aesthetic plastic surgery and analyzes factors which may play a role in the development of a decision for or against aesthetic surgery. This study emphasizes different aspects of people, who are unsatisfied with their body appearance, to decide for or against a cosmetic surgery. Especially individual fears of complications or pain and possible negative consequences were investigated. Furthermore, the influence of the personal trait extraversion/introversion and the educational level of the participants were analyzed. In addition, this survey evaluated gender-specific differences towards plastic surgery and research differences with regard to costs of a “beauty surgery”. Methods: A questionnaire was developed which combined self-developed items for a measurement of attitudes towards plastic surgery. In addition, items of the “Freiburger Personality Inventory” (FPI-R) were used. The study was conducted in Hamburg/Germany. 104 test persons participated in the survey (81 females, 23 males, age 20 – 30 y.). 86 of the participants (82.7%) had an A-level as degree of education, 14.4% achieved the secondary school certificate and 2.9% had completed their bachelor on a high school. Results: The data supported the hypothesis that people who are unsatisfied with their body appearance showed more willingness for a surgical intervention. On the other hand fear of complications and pain as far as anxiety before an unsatisfactory result hinders them from a decision for an intervention. Significant correlations with regard to extraversion-introversion and the education level were not found. Females showed more willingness regarding an intervention than men. Gender-specific differences concerning the cost factor were not found. Conclusion: Interestingly, more than 65% of the total sample (n=104) felt a dissatisfaction with a specific body part and are thus target of aesthetic surgery. The yellow press often reports about failed cosmetic surgery, especially in VIP-persons. Aesthetic surgery should keep working to reduce unwarranted fears of people toward these kinds of operations.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Reasons for Preventing Us to Get More Attractive: the Fear of Aesthetic Surgery
    AU  - Mona Leitermann
    AU  - Klaus Hoffmann
    AU  - Erich Kasten
    Y1  - 2016/06/30
    PY  - 2016
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20160404.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.hss.20160404.11
    T2  - Humanities and Social Sciences
    JF  - Humanities and Social Sciences
    JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences
    SP  - 83
    EP  - 89
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-8184
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20160404.11
    AB  - Nowadays, with the help of cosmetic surgery almost every woman and man can achieve a highly attractive appearance. But many people do not take advantage of these opportunities. Task: This pilot-study investigates individual attitudes of people towards aesthetic plastic surgery and analyzes factors which may play a role in the development of a decision for or against aesthetic surgery. This study emphasizes different aspects of people, who are unsatisfied with their body appearance, to decide for or against a cosmetic surgery. Especially individual fears of complications or pain and possible negative consequences were investigated. Furthermore, the influence of the personal trait extraversion/introversion and the educational level of the participants were analyzed. In addition, this survey evaluated gender-specific differences towards plastic surgery and research differences with regard to costs of a “beauty surgery”. Methods: A questionnaire was developed which combined self-developed items for a measurement of attitudes towards plastic surgery. In addition, items of the “Freiburger Personality Inventory” (FPI-R) were used. The study was conducted in Hamburg/Germany. 104 test persons participated in the survey (81 females, 23 males, age 20 – 30 y.). 86 of the participants (82.7%) had an A-level as degree of education, 14.4% achieved the secondary school certificate and 2.9% had completed their bachelor on a high school. Results: The data supported the hypothesis that people who are unsatisfied with their body appearance showed more willingness for a surgical intervention. On the other hand fear of complications and pain as far as anxiety before an unsatisfactory result hinders them from a decision for an intervention. Significant correlations with regard to extraversion-introversion and the education level were not found. Females showed more willingness regarding an intervention than men. Gender-specific differences concerning the cost factor were not found. Conclusion: Interestingly, more than 65% of the total sample (n=104) felt a dissatisfaction with a specific body part and are thus target of aesthetic surgery. The yellow press often reports about failed cosmetic surgery, especially in VIP-persons. Aesthetic surgery should keep working to reduce unwarranted fears of people toward these kinds of operations.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Medical School Hamburg, University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

  • Klinik für Dermatologie und Allergologie der Ruhr Universit?t Bochum, Bochum, Germany

  • Dept. of Neuropsychology, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

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