Factors Affecting Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery in Adults in Their 20s-30s

This descriptive study investigates cosmetic surgery experience, awareness of side effects, self-esteem, and acceptance of cosmetic surgery (ACS) and aims to identify factors that affect ACS.

Data on 398 randomly selected participants from a panel of sex-stratified adults in their 20s and 30s registered online with a Korean survey company were collected in September 2019. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, crosstabs, Chi-square test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and multiple linear regression.

Among the subjects, 47.2% were male and 52.8% were female. The average age of the subjects was 29.98 years. While 91.7% of the subjects previously acquired information on side effects related to cosmetic surgery, the most frequent source was from "bus stops and subway stops," reported by 83.6% of them. Blepharoplasty was the most frequently performed procedure reported by 50 of the 89 subjects (22.4%) who underwent 1 or more cosmetic surgery procedures. Among 187 subjects (47.0%) considering cosmetic surgery in the future, "botulinum toxin" was the most frequently considered procedure. ACS of the subjects was higher with employment (β = .15, p < .001), previous experience with cosmetic surgery (β = .22, p < .001), consideration for future cosmetic surgery (β = .49, p < .001), and lower appearance satisfaction (AS) (β = -.10, p = .008), and the explanatory power of these variables was 41.7% (F = 72.08, p < .001).

Most of the subjects in this study were aware of the side effects of cosmetic surgery, and about half were considering cosmetic surgery in the future. Employment status, previous experience with cosmetic surgery, consideration for future cosmetic surgery, and AS were found to be factors affecting ACS. Correlations between age, BMI, ACS, AS, depression, and self-esteem were identified.

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