It’s scientific: people who have undergone cosmetic surgery show more zest for life, satisfaction and self-esteem than those who have given it up.
/Excerpt from ARCINFO publication/
Psychologist Jürgen Margraf, from the Ruhr University in Bochum (D), together with colleagues from the University of Basel, interviewed 550 first-time surgery patients and 264 others who had thought about having an operation before. give it up. They completed their comparison with a thousand people who had never been interested in cosmetic surgery.
The patients were interviewed 3, 6 and 12 months after the operation or the first visit to the clinic. On average, the operated subjects indicated that they had achieved the desired goal and were satisfied with the long-term result, the Ruhr University wrote in a statement on Monday.
No negative effects
Compared to those who opted out of the operation, these patients perceived themselves to be in better health, were less shy and had higher self-esteem. They found the operated body part and the body in general to be more attractive.
The researchers did not find any negative effects, as they write in the journal “Clinical Psychological Science”. Women represent 87% of patients opting for cosmetic surgery.
Among the open-ended questions submitted to the participants, some were unrealistic, such as “All my problems will be solved” or “I will be an entirely new man”. Only 12% of respondents subscribed to such objectives. The others indicated rather wanting to “feel better”, “eliminate aesthetic defects” or “develop more confidence”.
Perception of its beauty
The researchers also surveyed a thousand people about the perception of their own beauty. They were asked to rate it on a scale of 1 (ugly) to 100 (beautiful). Result: 69.1.
Questioned in the same way before their cosmetic surgery operation, 544 patients produced an average of 66.6. After the operation, this figure increased by nearly 10 points, said Margraf, who is also president of the German Psychological Society.