Predictors of Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery in South Korean Women

Examining the characteristics of the growing cosmetic surgery (CS) consumer population could help promote safer cosmetic procedure practices. We identified the predictors of acceptance of cosmetic surgery (ACS) among South Korean women aged 20-69 years.

An online survey was administered to 291 randomly sampled participants during August 30-September 6, 2021. An equal number of participants from each age group was selected. They completed a questionnaire concerning the general and CS-related characteristics, acceptance of cosmetic surgery scale, appearance satisfaction, self-esteem, and depression. The mean participants' age and body mass index were 44.12 (± 13.79) years and 22.15 (± 3.39) kg/m², respectively.

Approximately 90.0% of the participants had been exposed to a CS advertisement, with 96.2% having acquired information regarding the CS side effects and 52.6% considering CS in future. Eighty-eight (30.2%) participants had undergone CS. The most common surgical and non-surgical categories were eyelid surgery and botulinum toxin injection, respectively. The ACS increased with decreasing age (β = - 0.12, p < .05), exposure to a CS advertisement (β = 0.10, p < .05), consideration of undergoing CS in future (β = 0.59, p < .001), and increasing depression scores (β = 0.29, p < .001); collectively, these factors explained 43.0% of the variance (F = 25.21, p < .001).

"Consideration of undergoing CS" was the strongest ACS predictor in the multiple regression analysis for the entire study population and according to CS history. Future studies should conduct an in-depth analysis based on the current CS trends, intention to undergo CS in future, and past CS experiences of South Korean women aged 20-69 years.

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