Body Image, Objectification, and Attitudes Toward Cosmetic Surgery

Abstract

Objectification theory has been used to explain how women's experiences of sexual objectification results in self-objectification, self-surveillance, and body shame, with emerging research linking these factors with positive attitudes toward cosmetic surgery. The present study aimed to further examine the utility of the objectification model in predicting women's interest in cosmetic surgery. Participants were 233 Australian female undergraduate students who completed an online questionnaire. The results from two multiple regression analyses supported the hypotheses that sexual objectification, self-objectification, self-surveillance, and body shame predicted an increased acceptance as well as consideration of cosmetic surgery. The results suggest that objectification theory is a useful framework in explaining Australian women's desire for cosmetic surgery, highlighting the need for further investigation into positive body image.Fredrickson and Roberts' (1997) objectification theory proposes that in Western society, women's experiences of having their bodies sexually objectified can lead women to self-objectify by internalizing the observer's perspective on their body. This results in women adopting a view of themselves as an object whose worth is measured through the appearance and function of their body parts in relation to the pleasure of others. Self-objectification also results in women measuring themselves against Western sociocultural standards of beauty (Moradi, Dirks, & Matteson, 2005). Fredrickson and Roberts posit that sexual objectification manifests through an objectified male gaze, which is the perspective of a heterosexual man focusing on the sexual characteristics of a women's body. This male gaze occurs in interpersonal encounters and through mass media consumption.

Providing Sexual Companionship for Resources: Development, Validation, and Personality Correlates of the Acceptance of Sugar Relationships in Young Women and Men Scale (ASR-YWMS)

“…The choice of the instrument was based on the wellestablished empirical finding that the acceptance of cosmetic surgery is related to self-objectification (e.g., Calogero et al, 2010Calogero et al, , 2014Vaughan-Turnbull and Lewis, 2015;Choi and DeLong, 2019), which means treating one's own body as an object with a detached attitude. Since several studies have found that one's involvement in transactional sex is also related to selfobjectification (Chen, 2016;Horley and Clarke, 2016;Gayathri et al, 2018;Endong, 2019;Maas et al, 2019), this latter was expected to function as a latent variable determining a positive association between one's attitude toward cosmetic surgery and that toward transactional sex.…”

Women’s Intrasexual Competition Results in Beautification

“…In parallel, several empirical studies have demonstrated the relationship between beautification/self-objectification and seeking cosmetic surgery (e.g., Calogero et al, 2013; Vaughan-Turnbull & Lewis, 2015). Additionally, cosmetic surgery in the United States is predominantly performed on women (see 1 in Supplementary Materials).…”

The Dark Triad of Personality and Considering Cosmetic Surgery: An Exploratory Study

“…In this study, we aimed to conduct an exploratory examination of the relationship between Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy (collectively known as the Dark Triad) with considering cosmetic surgery. A review of the research literature suggested that, while many social and personality studies have examined psychological correlates of cosmetic surgery (e.g., Vaughan‐Turnbull & Lewis, ), no study has previously investigated the relationship between the Dark Triad and considering cosmetic surgery. While the literate suggested several associations between narcissism and interest in cosmetic surgery, no previous research was found on the relationship between subclinical psychopathy and Machiavellianism and interest in cosmetic surgery.…”

“…suggested that, while many social and personality studies have examined psychological correlates of cosmetic surgery (e.g., Vaughan-Turnbull & Lewis, 2015), no study has previously investigated the relationship between the Dark Triad and considering cosmetic surgery. While the literate suggested several associations between narcissism and interest in cosmetic surgery, no previous research was found on the relationship between subclinical psychopathy and Machiavellianism and interest in cosmetic surgery.…”