Desire for Cosmetic Procedures: An Investigation of Associated Factors

Previous research into cosmetic procedures has focused on plastic surgery. The present study sought to investigate non-surgical forms of cosmetic procedures, in additional to traditional surgical procedures. The study examined how self-esteem and dysmorphic concern relate to the desire for both non-surgical and surgical cosmetic procedures. A UK community sample of women completed self-report measures of self-esteem and dysmorphic concern online. Levels of depression, stress and aspects of obsessive compulsive disorder were controlled for in the analysis. Regression analyses were conducted to investigate how these factors relate to desire for both non-surgical and surgical cosmetic procedures. T-tests indicated those who had a cosmetic procedure showed significantly greater desire for further, cosmetic procedures. Self-esteem and dysmorphic concern were found to be strongly correlated. Higher levels of dysmorphic concern were a significant predictor of increased desire for cosmetic procedures. Self-esteem was not a significant predictive of desire for cosmetic procedures, when levels of dysmorphic concern were controlled for. The study suggests that the highly related constructs of self-esteem and dysmorphic concern may be a factor in the previously inconsistent literature around self-esteem and cosmetic procedures.