• Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or My Tools.
Ranking: 2015 SJR (SCImago Journal Rank) Score: 3.112 | 4/251 Clinical Psychology (Scopus®)

Well-Being From the Knife? Psychological Effects of Aesthetic Surgery

  1. Jürgen Margraf1
  2. Andrea H. Meyer2
  3. Kristen L. Lavallee3
  1. 1Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
  2. 2Division of Clinical Psycholgy and Epidemiology, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
  3. 3Division of Personality and Developmental Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
  1. Jürgen Margraf, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, D-44801 Bochum, Germany E-mail: juergen.margraf{at}rub.de

Abstract

Many people surgically alter their physical appearance with the intent of boosting their social and psychological well-being; however, the long-term effectiveness of aesthetic surgery on improving well-being is unconfirmed. The present comparison-controlled study examines outcomes in a sample of 544 patients who underwent aesthetic surgery (surgery group) and 264 participants who were interested in aesthetic surgery but did not undergo it (comparison group). Participants were followed 3, 6, and 12 months after aesthetic surgery or after contacting the clinic (comparisons). Overall, the results reveal positive outcomes of receiving aesthetic surgery across areas, including anxiety, social phobia, depression, body dysmorphia, goal attainment, quality of life, life satisfaction, attractiveness, mental and physical health, well-being, self-efficacy and self-esteem. Among those dissatisfied with a particular physical feature and considering aesthetic surgery, undergoing surgery appears to result in positive self-reported psychological changes.

Article Notes

  • Declaration of Conflicting Interests The authors declared that they had no conflicts of interest with respect to their authorship or the publication of this article.

  • Funding This study was supported by Mang Medical One AG, a large provider of plastic surgery in Germany, under the direction of the first author while at the Department of Psychology at the University of Basel. The study directors were scientifically independent and not bound by the directives on any important issues such as design, analysis, and presentation. We appreciate the participants in this study and the research assistants on the project for their assistance in data collection and management.

  • Received November 9, 2012.
  • Accepted November 19, 2012.
| Table of Contents

This Article

  1. Clinical Psychological Science vol. 1 no. 3 239-252
    All Versions of this Article:
    1. current version image indicatorVersion of Record - Jun 21, 2013
    2. OnlineFirst Version of Record - Mar 4, 2013
    What's this?

Share