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This study aimed to examine the association between positive (self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness) and negative (isolation, self-judgment, and over-identification) components of self-compassion, and both body dissatisfaction and acceptance of cosmetic surgery among women, through the mediation (for the negative components) of internalization and physical appearance comparison. The participants were 220 young Italian women aged 19–31 (M = 21) years, who completed a questionnaire assessing the variables of interest. Path analysis indicated that higher mindfulness was directly linked to lower acceptance of cosmetic surgery. Mindfulness presented the strongest link with cosmetic surgery, as it was directly associated with acceptance of cosmetic surgery for both social and interpersonal motivations and with consideration of undergoing some cosmetic procedures. Common humanity and self-kindness were related to acceptance of cosmetic surgery for social reasons. Over-identification seemed to be associated with body dissatisfaction and acceptance of cosmetic surgery both directly and indirectly through internalization and physical appearance comparison. Self-judgment and isolation did not present a significant association with either body dissatisfaction or acceptance of cosmetic surgery. These findings confirm that psychological assessment of women who are interested in cosmetic surgery is highly recommended. Interventions should not consider self-compassion as a whole, but they should rather focus on some of its components. The role of over-identification seems to be especially pivotal, as higher scores on this dimension are linked to higher levels of body dissatisfaction and greater acceptance of cosmetic surgery.
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Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 1 December 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 2698
BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT
published: 03 December 2019
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02698
Edited by:
Andrea Phillipou,
Swinburne University of Technology,
Australia
Reviewed by:
Toni Pikoos,
Swinburne University of Technology,
Australia
Gemma Sharp,
Monash University,
Australia
*Correspondence:
Amanda Nerini
nerini@psico.uni.it
Specialty section:
This article was submitted to
Eating Behavior,
a section of the journal
Frontiers in Psychology
Received: 03 October 2019
Accepted: 15 November 2019
Published: 03 December 2019
Citation:
Nerini A, Matera C, Di Gesto C,
Policardo GR and Stefanile C (2019)
Exploring the Links Between
Self-Compassion, Body
Dissatisfaction, and Acceptance
of Cosmetic Surgery in Young
Italian Women.
Front. Psychol. 10:2698.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02698
Exploring the Links Between Self-
Compassion, Body Dissatisfaction,
and Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery
in Young Italian Women
AmandaNerini1
*, CamillaMatera1, CristianDiGesto2, GiuliaRosaPolicardo2 and
CristinaStefanile2
1
Department of Education, Languages, Intercultures, Literatures and Psychology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy,
2 Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
This study aimed to examine the association between positive (self-kindness, common
humanity, and mindfulness) and negative (isolation, self-judgment, and over-identication)
components of self-compassion, and both body dissatisfaction and acceptance of cosmetic
surgery among women, through the mediation (for the negative components) of internalization
and physical appearance comparison. The participants were 220 young Italian women
aged 19–31 (M= 21) years, who completed a questionnaire assessing the variables of
interest. Path analysis indicated that higher mindfulness was directly linked to lower
acceptance of cosmetic surgery. Mindfulness presented the strongest link with cosmetic
surgery, as it was directly associated with acceptance of cosmetic surgery for both social
and interpersonal motivations and with consideration of undergoing some cosmetic
procedures. Common humanity and self-kindness were related to acceptance of cosmetic
surgery for social reasons. Over-identication seemed to beassociated with body
dissatisfaction and acceptance of cosmetic surgery both directly and indirectly through
internalization and physical appearance comparison. Self-judgment and isolation did not
present a signicant association with either body dissatisfaction or acceptance of cosmetic
surgery. These ndings conrm that psychological assessment of women who are interested
in cosmetic surgery is highly recommended. Interventions should not consider self-
compassion as a whole, but they should rather focus on some of its components. The role
of over-identication seems to beespecially pivotal, as higher scores on this dimension
are linked to higher levels of body dissatisfaction and greater acceptance of cosmetic surgery.
Keywords: self-compassion, body dissatisfaction, cosmetic surgery, physical appearance comparison,
internalization
INTRODUCTION
Cosmetic surgery is an optional, or medically unnecessary, procedure (Diaz, 2012) requested
by a patient to correct imperfections and improve appearance (Barone et al., 2016).
Some studies have shown a positive link between body dissatisfaction and acceptance
of cosmetic surgery among women, suggesting that people may consider cosmetic surgery
Nerini et al. Compassion, Body Image, Cosmetic Surgery
Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 2 December 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 2698
as a means to obtain both intrapsychic benefits (e.g., higher
self-esteem) and social rewards deriving from appearing
more attractive to others (Markey and Markey, 2009; Slevec
and Tiggemann, 2010; Menzel et al., 2011; Lunde, 2013).
Nevertheless, some experimental evidence suggests that
body image quality of life and self-esteem do not increase
in women who have undergone some cosmetic surgical
procedures, even though their body dissatisfaction can
decrease (Sobanko et al., 2018).
Italy ranks sixth in the list of countries with the largest
number of women who underwent cosmetic surgical procedures
in 2016 (International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery,
2017). Such an interest in cosmetic practices can derive from
the emphasis that the Italian society places on physical appearance
(Dakanalis etal., 2015; Barcaccia etal., 2018). A study conducted
by Mondini et al. (1996) revealed that cosmetic surgery was
already present in the Italian mass media two decades ago. It
was typically presented as an eective manipulation strategy
that might help women to achieve common aesthetic standards
that are dicult to be reached with natural methods.
What factors might beassociated with women’s consideration
of cosmetic surgery? rough the present study, we aimed to
examine if an attitude of kindness and understanding toward
oneself in the face of inadequacies, failures, and personal
diculties—which is called self-compassion (Ne, 2003)—can
be signicantly associated with lower body dissatisfaction and
lower acceptance of cosmetic surgery among women. Indeed,
self-compassion was found to mitigate the maladaptive outcomes
of poor body image (Braun et al., 2016).
Self-compassion enhances ones ability to respond to threats
and environmental stressors (such as pressures related to
one’s physical appearance) in a nonreactive and nonjudgmental
manner (Ferreira etal., 2013). is is due to a lower tendency
to self-criticize, which may reduce the extent to which people
perceive negative thoughts and feelings as severe, making
them more easily acceptable (Ne, 2003). Self-compassion
entails three positive (self-kindness, common humanity, and
mindfulness) and three negative components (self-judgment,
isolation, and over-identication) (Ne, 2016). According to
Ne (2003), self-kindness refers to an attitude of care and
understanding toward oneself in the face of suering. Common
humanity allows one to perceive and classify personal
experiences of failure as elements shared by humanity.
Mindfulness is a state of awareness, attention, and acceptance
of one’s negative thoughts and feelings in a balanced and
nonjudgmental way. Self-judgment is the tendency to disapprove
and harshly judge one’s aws and inadequacies. Isolation,
which is the perception of being the only one suering or
making mistakes, occurs when people tend to feel separate
and cuto from the rest of the world while thinking about
their own inadequacies. Over-identication is the excessive
identication with and absorption in one’s feelings and
emotions, and it involves the tendency to obsess and xate
on everything that is wrong. High levels of self-compassion
can be therefore expressed in terms of high self-kindness,
common humanity, and mindfulness, and low self-judgment,
isolation, and over-identication.
e positive and negative components do not seem completely
symmetrical. Much research (Gilbert, 2005; Smith and Zautra,
2008; Longe et al., 2010; Costa et al., 2016; Brenner et al.,
2017) has suggested that the positive components combine
into one factor, whereas the negative components combine
into another one (called self-criticism). Distinct processes and
internal systems seem to be activated by these two factors
(Brenner et al., 2017). e former could be considered a
resilience factor (Ne and McGehee, 2010), which might allow
people to relax and engage in behaviors that foster health and
well-being (Gilbert, 2005), whereas self-criticism might represent
a vulnerability factor (Dunkley etal., 2009), which could make
people more severe toward their own failures and inadequacies
(Gilbert et al., 2011). Notably, ompson and Zuro (2004)
identied two distinct forms of self-criticism, which are
comparative and internalized self-criticism. Comparative self-
criticism is a negative view of the self in comparison with
others, whereas internalized self-criticism is a negative view
of the self in comparison with internal standards, which are
oen high and hardly achievable. According to this perspective,
the negative components of self-compassion seem to behighly
related to internalization and physical appearance comparison,
which are two key processes responsible for body dissatisfaction
and acceptance of cosmetic surgery (Keery etal., 2004; Stefanile
et al., 2009; Menzel et al., 2011; Rodgers et al., 2011; Nerini,
2015; Nerini et al., 2016). e internalization of social ideals
can bedened as the internal incorporation of societal standards
of attractiveness to the point that these values become guiding
principles (ompson et al., 2004). Physical appearance
comparison is the tendency to evaluate dimensions of the self,
such as body image, through comparison with others (ompson
etal., 1991). Women who internalize beauty ideals may bemore
likely to engage in physical appearance comparison to establish
if they meet shared cultural standards of beauty (Clay et al.,
2005; Durkin et al., 2007; Matera etal., 2013a). Internalization
and physical appearance comparison could therefore mediate
the relationship between the negative components of self-
compassion (self-criticism) and both body dissatisfaction and
acceptance of cosmetic surgery.
Most studies on the association between self-compassion
and body dissatisfaction treated self-compassion as a global
construct, neglecting its multidimensional nature. To the best
of our knowledge, the only study that examined the relationship
between all the dimensions that comprise self-compassion and
body image is the one by Wasylkiw et al. (2012). e authors
found self-judgment to be the only signicant predictor of
body preoccupation in undergraduate women. e few additional
studies that viewed self-compassion as a multidimensional
construct examined the role of only some of its components
(Dijkstra and Barelds, 2011; Webb and Forman, 2013;
Ferreira et al., 2014; Rodgers et al., 2017).
Only two studies examined the relationship between self-
compassion and acceptance of cosmetic surgery, examining
only a single subcomponent of self-compassion (mindfulness).
Manshadi et al. (2014) investigated body satisfaction and
mindfulness in cosmetic surgery candidates in comparison with
people who have not undergone cosmetic surgical procedures.
Nerini et al. Compassion, Body Image, Cosmetic Surgery
Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 3 December 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 2698
Cosmetic surgery patients had less positive body satisfaction
and lower levels of mindfulness. Naami and Salehi (2016)
showed a signicant negative relationship between mindfulness
and acceptance of cosmetic surgery in high school students.
THE PRESENT STUDY
e present study aimed to test a model in which self-compassion,
conceived as a multidimensional construct, was associated with
body dissatisfaction and acceptance of cosmetic surgery via
internalization and physical appearance comparison. Wepredicted
that the positive components (self-kindness, common humanity,
and mindfulness) would be directly associated with body
dissatisfaction and acceptance of cosmetic surgery. e more
women can respond to threats or environmental stressors in
a nonreactive and nonjudgmental manner, the more favorably
they might look at their bodies. Such a mental state may
be associated with lower dissatisfaction with one’s body and
lower acceptance of cosmetic surgery as an appearance
enhancement strategy (Hypothesis 1). Based on previous research
ndings (ompson and Zuro, 2004), the negative components
were hypothesized to be related to both body dissatisfaction
and acceptance of cosmetic surgery by fostering both
internalization of societal standards of beauty and comparisons
with the appearance of others (Hypothesis 2). We also posited
a link from internalization to physical appearance comparison
(Nerini et al., 2014; Matera et al., 2015; Stefanile et al., 2015),
and from body dissatisfaction to acceptance of cosmetic surgery
(Markey and Markey, 2009; Slevec and Tiggemann, 2010; Menzel
etal., 2011; Lunde, 2013). Body mass index (BMI) was included
to control for its eect, and the components of self-compassion
were allowed to covary.
METHODS
Participants
e participants included 220 Caucasian Italian university
women aged 19–31 years (M = 21, SD = 1.88). e mean
BMI of the sample was 21.02 (SD = 3.17), ranging between
14.2 and 35.2. Most of the participants (82.7%) lived in central
Italy, 10% in northern Italy, and 6.8% in southern Italy or on
islands. Most of them (94.5%) reported being unmarried,
whereas 5.5% reported being married or cohabiting. Regarding
education, 91.3% of them had high school diplomas, 7.8%
had bachelor’s degrees, and 0.9% had master’s degrees. Most
of the participants (96.3%) dened themselves as students,
whereas 3.7% dened themselves as workers (1.8% were
occasional employees, 0.9% part-time employees, 0.5% full-time
employees, and 0.5% were looking for a rst job). In terms
of sexual orientation, 94.5% of them reported being heterosexual.
Measures
Self-Compassion
e Italian version (Petrocchi etal., 2013) of the Self-Compassion
Scale (Ne, 2003) is a 26-item scale that was used to measure
the six components of self-compassion along a ve-point Likert
scale (1 = almost never; 5 = almost always). Self-kindness
refers to ones ability to be caring and understanding with
oneself (four items, e.g., “When I’m going through a very
hard time, I give myself the caring and tenderness I need”;
alpha=0.83). Self-judgment refers to one’s tendency to beharshly
self-critical (ve items, e.g., “When I see aspects of myself
that Idon’t like, Iget down on myself”; alpha=0.88). Common
humanity entails the ability to remind oneself that suering
is part of human nature (ve items, e.g., “When Ifeel inadequate
in some way, Itry to remind myself that feelings of inadequacy
are shared by most people”; alpha = 0.77). Isolation is the
lack of awareness that all human beings experience suering
and failure (four items, e.g., “When I fail at something that’s
important to me, Itend to feel alone in my failure”; alpha=0.84).
Mindfulness involves awareness of, attention to, and acceptance
of one’s painful experiences in a balanced and nonjudgmental
way (four items, e.g., “When I fail at something important to
me, I try to keep things in perspective”; alpha = 0.74). Over-
identication refers to the excessive identication with and
absorption in one’s feelings and emotions (four items, e.g.,
“When I’m feeling down, I tend to obsess and xate on
everything that’s wrong”; alpha= 0.77). Higher scores on self-
kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness, and lower scores
on self-judgment, isolation, and over-identication represented
higher levels of self-compassion.
Internalization
e internalization-general subscale of the Italian version
(Stefanile et al., 2019) of the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward
Appearance Questionnaire-4 Revised (Schaefer et al., 2017)
was used to assess the degree to which one has internalized
sociocultural ideals regarding beauty. is 10-item subscale
(e.g., “It is important to me to be attractive”) ranges from 1
(denitively disagree) to 5 (denitively agree). Higher scores
represented greater levels of internalization (alpha = 0.86).
Physical Appearance Comparison
We adopted an Italian version (Stefanile et al., 2010) of the
Physical Appearance Comparison Scale (ompson etal., 1991)
to assess the level to which people make social comparisons
related to their appearance. is four-item scale (e.g., “In social
situations, I sometimes compare my gure to the gures of
other people”) ranges from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Higher
scores represented greater levels of physical appearance
comparisons (alpha = 0.86).
Body Dissatisfaction
We used the Italian version (Matera et al., 2013b) of the
Body Shape Questionnaire-14 (Dowson and Henderson, 2001)
to assess body dissatisfaction. e scale has 14 items (e.g.,
“I felt ashamed of my body”) rated along a six-point Likert
scale (1 = never; 6 = always). e questionnaire asks the
participants to respond on the basis of the past 2 weeks prior
to administration. High scores indicated greater levels of general
body dissatisfaction (alpha = 0.95).
Nerini et al. Compassion, Body Image, Cosmetic Surgery
Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 4 December 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 2698
Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery
We measured acceptance of cosmetic surgery with the Italian
version (Stefanile et al., 2014) of the Acceptance of Cosmetic
Surgery Scale (Henderson-King and Henderson-King, 2005).
is scale has 15 items with a three-factor structure: the
Intrapersonal subscale measures attitudes related to the self-
oriented benets of cosmetic surgery (ve items; e.g., “Cosmetic
surgery can bea big benet to people’s self-image”; alpha=0.93),
the Social subscale assesses social motivations for having cosmetic
surgery (ve items; e.g., “If it would benet my career, I would
think about having plastic surgery”; alpha = 0.83), and the
Consider subscale measures the probability that a participant
would consider having cosmetic surgery (ve items; e.g., “In
the future, I could end up having some kind of cosmetic
surgery”; alpha = 0.92). e scale ranges from 1 (denitively
disagree) to 7 (denitively agree). High scores indicated high
levels of acceptance of cosmetic surgery.
Sociodemographic Details and Body Mass Index
Each participant reported her age, sex, sexual orientation, race,
educational level, occupational status, and relationship status.
We calculated BMIs (kg/m2) using the participants’ reported
weights and heights.
Procedure
Using opportunistic sampling techniques, werecruited the study
participants from the School of Psychology at the university
with which the authors were aliated. During regular
undergraduate and graduate classes, we asked the students to
take part in a study on body image. Participation in the study
was voluntary, and we did not provide incentives to the
participants. To be eligible for the study, the participants were
needed to be 18years or older women. We obtained informed
consent from each participant prior to administering the
questionnaire. Participants completed measures in paper-and-
pencil format. e questionnaire was anonymous, did not ask
for any personally identiable information, and took about
30 min to complete. e Ethical Committee of the University
of Florence approved the study procedures.
Data Analysis
We examined the t of three models, in which the self-compassion
dimensions were posited as predictors of the three ACSS subscales
respectively (Model 1: Intrapersonal; Model 2: Social; Model 3,
Consider); the role of internalization, physical appearance
comparison, and body dissatisfaction was considered in each
model. Less than 1% of the data was missing. We used a mean
imputation process to replace the missing values. All the
assumptions for path analysis were satised (Streiner, 2005).
e hypotheses were tested using Amos (version 22; IBM SPSS,
Chicago, IL); weused bootstrapping to test mediation by estimating
the presence and size of the indirect (i.e., mediated) eects
(Rucker et al., 2011). e sample size in the present study was
bigger than the recommended size of 200 participants (We st on
and Gore, 2006). Weadopted the maximum likelihood procedure
to derive the parameter estimates and used the following
goodness-of-t indices: the χ2/df ratio, a good score of which
is 2 or below; the comparative t index (CFI); the Tucker-Lewis
index (TLI); the incremental t index (IFI), the value of which
should be higher than 0.95; the normed t index (NFI), a good
score of which is more than 0.90; the root mean square error
of approximation (RMSEA); a 90% condence interval for RMSEA
(RMSEA 90% CI); and the standardized root mean square
residual (SRMR). RMSEA and SRMR are considered acceptable
if they are 0.08 or lower (Hooper et al., 2008).
RESULTS
Tabl e 1 shows the descriptive statistics (means and standard
deviations) and the intercorrelations among the variables.
e data are normally distributed (skewness <1.54; kurtosis
<4.11), as the skews for all variables are lower than 2 and
kurtosis is lower than 7 (West et al., 1995).
e three models (Figures 13) tted very well with the
data [Model 1, Intrapersonal: χ2 =25.25, p=0.19; χ2/df =1.26;
RMSEA = 0.04 (CI = 0.00; 0.07); SRMR = 0.04; CFI = 0.99;
TLI=0.99; IFI =0.99; NFI =0.98: Model 2, Social: χ2= 31.30,
p = 0.05; χ2/df = 1.56; RMSEA = 0.05 (CI = 0.00; 0.08);
SRMR=0.04; CFI=0.99; TLI = 0.97; IFI = 0.99; NFI =0.97.
Model 3, Consider: χ2 = 28.17, p = 0.10; χ2/df = 1.41;
RMSEA = 0.04 (CI = 0.00; 0.08); SRMR = 0.04; CFI = 0.99;
TLI=0.98; IFI=0.99; NFI=0.98]. Covariances ranged between
0.23 (p < 0.001) and 0.63 (p < 0.001).
Hypothesis 1 was partially conrmed. None of the positive
components were signicantly related to body dissatisfaction,
whereas mindfulness was signicantly related to acceptance of
cosmetic surgery in each model. Self-kindness and common
humanity were signicantly associated with acceptance of
cosmetic surgery for social reasons (Model 2), but not with
either acceptance of cosmetic surgery for intrapersonal reasons
(Model 1) or consideration of undergoing some cosmetic
procedures (Model 3). Notably, the relationship between self-
kindness and acceptance of cosmetic surgery for social reasons
(Model 2) was a negative one.
In line with Hypothesis 2, the bootstrapping procedure
(Preacher and Hayes, 2008) showed that the indirect eect of
over-identication on body dissatisfaction through internalization
and physical appearance comparison was signicant in the
three models (0.188; 95% CI: 0.082; 0.296). Over-identication
was related to acceptance of cosmetic surgery for intrapersonal
reasons only via internalization (0.121; 95% CI: 0.048; 0.236),
and was related to both acceptance of cosmetic surgery for
social reasons and consideration of cosmetic surgery through
internalization, physical appearance comparison, and body
dissatisfaction (Social: 0.106; 95% CI: 0.049; 0.204; Consider:
149; 95% CI: 0.068; 0.259).
Isolation was associated with physical appearance comparison,
but not with internalization. Contrary to Hypothesis 2, the
indirect eect of isolation on body dissatisfaction (0.091; 95%
CI: 0.012; 0.207), acceptance of cosmetic surgery for social
reasons (0.051; 95% CI: 0.009; 0.122), or consideration of
cosmetic surgery (0.062; 95% CI: 0.016; 0.157) was not signicant.
Nerini et al. Compassion, Body Image, Cosmetic Surgery
Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 5 December 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 2698
Isolation was not indirectly related to acceptance of cosmetic
surgery for intrapersonal reasons, as the latter was not associated
with either physical appearance comparison or body dissatisfaction.
Self-judgment was not signicantly related to any other variable.
e three models accounted for much of the variance in
body dissatisfaction (48%) and for a satisfactory percentage
of the variance of acceptance of cosmetic surgery (Intrapersonal:
17%; Social: 22%; Consider: 29%).
DISCUSSION
Our ndings showed that the positive and negative components
of self-compassion were not completely symmetrical. Mindfulness
presented the strongest link with cosmetic surgery, as it was
directly associated with acceptance of cosmetic surgery for both
social and interpersonal motivations and with consideration of
undergoing some cosmetic procedures. Mindfulness may provide
TABLE1 | Means (M), standard deviations (SD), and intercorrelations between all variables.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 M (SD)
1. Self-kindness 12.54
(0.80)
2. Self-judgment 0.67*** 1 3.23
(0.92)
3. Common humanity 0.57*** 0.32*** 1 2.83
(0.80)
4. Isolation 0.50*** 0.69*** 0.33*** 1 3.00
(0.97)
5. Mindfulness 0.75*** 0.52*** 0.56*** 0.56*** 1 2.91
(0.78)
6. Over-identication 0.54*** 0.72*** 0.35*** 0.75*** 0.58*** 1 3.54
(0.87)
7. Social comparison 0.32*** 0.45*** 0.19** 0.49*** 0.35*** 0.51*** 1 3.03
(0.99)
8. Internalization 0.24*** 0.34*** 0.23*** 0.35*** 0.30*** 0.44*** 0.61*** 1 3.51
(0.75)
9. Body dissatisfaction 0.24*** 0.38*** 0.23*** 0.42*** 0.32*** 0.45*** 0.54*** 0.44*** 1 3.04
(1.34)
10. Social 0.15* 0.28*** 0.24*** 0.36*** 0.29*** 0.33*** 0.35*** 0.31*** 0.31*** 1 1.77
(1.07)
11. Consider 0.19** 0.27*** 0.21** 0.32*** 0.32*** 0.28*** 0.44*** 0.41*** 0.36*** 0.64*** 1 3.09
(1.87)
12. Intrapersonal 0.13* 0.16* 0.15* 0.22*** 0.23*** 0.23*** 0.31*** 0.34*** 0.24*** 0.49*** 0.67*** 1 3.85
(1.60)
13. BMI 0.05 0.02 0.10 0.04 0.12 0.04 0.03 0.07 0.38*** 0.06 0.07 0.11 21.03
(3.17)
N=220; *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.
FIGURE1 | Final model intrapersonal.
Nerini et al. Compassion, Body Image, Cosmetic Surgery
Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 6 December 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 2698
greater distress tolerance (Schoenefeld and Webb, 2013; Webb
and Forman, 2013) and higher cognitive and emotional exibility,
making people less interested in cosmetic surgery to enhance
their appearance (Manshadi et al., 2014; Naami and Salehi,
2016). Common humanity and self-kindness were related to
acceptance of cosmetic surgery for social reasons. Women who
reminded themselves that suering is part of human nature
(i.e., common humanity) were less likely to evaluate cosmetic
surgery as a means of appearing more attractive to others and
gaining social rewards. Surprisingly, an attitude of care and
understanding toward oneself (i.e., self-kindness) was associated
with higher acceptance of cosmetic surgery for social reasons.
Even if the simple correlation between the two variables was
negative, when all the components of self-compassion were
accounted for, the sign of this relationship changed. Probably,
the simple correlation and the overlap among the dimensions
of self-compassion did not permit to examine the unique eect
of self-kindness; only aer controlling for the shared variance
among all the components, the unique eect of self-kindness
could be disentangled. Women who can support themselves
kindly seem to be more likely to view cosmetic surgery as a
reasonable way to provide themselves satisfaction when they
experience diculties and sorrow in social contexts or during
social interactions. Cosmetic surgery might be conceived as a
way to take care of oneself in order to obtain external rewards,
such as positive feedback and material advantages. Indeed, many
people nowadays choose cosmetic surgery as a generous life-
changing gi (American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2017).
Contrary to Hypothesis 1, none of the positive components
was associated with body dissatisfaction.
In accord with Hypothesis 2, the excessive identication
with and absorption in ones feelings and emotions (i.e.,
FIGURE3 | Final model consider.
FIGURE2 | Final model social.
Nerini et al. Compassion, Body Image, Cosmetic Surgery
Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 7 December 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 2698
over-identication) seemed to be associated with the likelihood
of internalizing sociocultural standards of appearance. is
process, in turn, might increase body dissatisfaction and
acceptance of cosmetic surgery both directly and indirectly
through physical appearance comparison, which could help
establish if one is eectively meeting internalized sociocultural
standards of beauty (Clay et al., 2005; Durkin et al., 2007;
Matera etal., 2013a); if physical appearance comparison discloses
that a woman does not match the size and shape of other
people, that woman may experience body dissatisfaction.
In our models, self-judgment did not present a signicant
association with either body dissatisfaction or acceptance of
cosmetic surgery. It seems that it is not the tendency to
disapprove and harshly judge one’s aws and inadequacies,
but the excessive identication with and absorption in these
feelings of inadequacies, that may be relevant for womens
body dissatisfaction. In addition, isolation was not associated
with either body dissatisfaction or acceptance of cosmetic
surgery, although it was signicantly related to physical
appearance comparison. Women who felt separate and cuto
from the rest of the world probably felt more depressed and
hopeless, and were more likely to compare their appearance
with that of others with the aim of verifying their status and
feeling less isolated. In other words, in this case physical
appearance comparison might not have the aim of restoring
one’s body image, but it could beperformed in order to improve
one’s perception of being connected to others.
is study has some limitations. First, because of the
correlational nature of this research, we cannot make causal
inferences. Second, we assessed acceptance, but not eective
engagement, of cosmetic surgery. Perspective and experimental
studies must clarify the causal relationship between the variables
and must examine the relationship between attitudes and the
actual decision to undergo cosmetic surgical procedures. ird,
this study is not exhaustive of potential variables that may
protect women from body dissatisfaction and consideration of
cosmetic surgery. Future studies could examine if public self-
awareness, which is related to both self-compassion (Ne and
Vonk, 2009) and acceptance of cosmetic surgery (Matera etal.,
2015), might bea relevant mediator of the relationship between
these two variables. Moreover, weused a convenience sample,
so our ndings are not generalizable to the entire population.
ese ndings conrm that psychological assessment of
women who are interested in cosmetic surgery is highly
recommended (Mulkens et al., 2012; Brunton et al., 2014).
Indeed, cosmetic surgery does not necessarily help women to
improve their body image (Sarwer, 2018; Sobanko etal., 2018).
If women seek cosmetic surgery without changing their attitude
toward the self, they will probably report low self-esteem also
aer undergoing surgery, which could lead them to look for
further cosmetic procedures, without ever feeling comfortable
with their own body image. Before undergoing cosmetic
procedures, surgeons might propose alternative strategies, such
as self-compassion trainings, that could help women to change
the way they relate to their body. Based on our ndings, this
kind of training should not consider self-compassion as a whole,
but it should rather focus on some of its components. e
role of over-identication seems to be especially pivotal, as
higher scores on this dimension are linked to higher levels of
body dissatisfaction and greater acceptance of cosmetic surgery.
To reduce womens tendency to excessively identify with their
feelings and emotions could either dissuade women from
undertaking unnecessary surgical interventions or reduce the
likelihood that poor body image is experienced even aer some
cosmetic procedures are eectively undertaken. Higher levels
of mindfulness and common humanity could decrease women’s
acceptance of cosmetic surgery as well, at least for social reasons,
even though these dimensions appeared to be unrelated to
womens satisfaction with their body. e association between
self-kindness and acceptance of cosmetic surgery might befurther
explored before considering the advantages and disadvantages
of trainings that specically focus on this dimension.
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
e datasets generated for this study are available on request
to the corresponding author.
ETHICS STATEMENT
e studies involving human participants were reviewed and
approved by Ethical Committee of the University of Florence
(Italy). e patients/participants provided their written informed
consent to participate in this study.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual
contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.
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Conflict of Interest: e authors declare that the research was conducted in
the absence of any commercial or nancial relationships that could beconstrued
as a potential conict of interest.
Copyright © 2019 Nerini, Matera, Di Gesto, Policardo and Stefanile. is is an open-
access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
(CC BY). e use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided
the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original
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use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
... He concluded that body image concerns have a mediatory role in the relationship between social and media addiction and attitudes towards cosmetic surgery. Body dissatisfaction was reported to be one of the main factors that led to people commissioning cosmetic surgery (Nerini et al., 2019;Walker et al., 2021). Positive correlations were also found between body dissatisfaction and women undergoing cosmetic surgery, which confirmed the way that surgery is viewed as a means of achieving social acceptance and self-love (Lunde, 2013;Menzel et al., 2011). ...
... The sixth main finding revealed a significant relationship between body satisfaction and doing exercise, but an insignificant one for surgery and dieting. This result is in line with the findings of Nerini et al. (2019) and Walker et al. (2021). However, it is in contrast with some similar studies that have shown a positive association between body dissatisfaction and undergoing cosmetic surgery among women (Lunde, 2013;Menzel et al., 2011). ...
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The present study investigates the direct effect of Instagram use on various ways of losing weight, examines the mediation effects of body satisfaction and body image, and the moderator effects of gender and marital status. A total of 520 people who both used Instagram and undertook body surgery participated in the study and filled in the online and printed versions of our questionnaire. Partial least squares regression was used to test the research hypotheses and the relationships among the variables. The results revealed that body image mediated the effect of the purpose of Instagram use on ways of losing weight; however, no mediation effect of body image and body satisfaction was found for patterns and purposes of Instagram use apart from exercise. The relationship between the purposes and pattern of Instagram usage on body satisfaction was significant. However, patterns of Instagram use had no impact on body image, while this relationship for purpose was significant. The implications of the study are discussed.
... Furthermore, Slevec & Tiggemann (2010) have examined attitudes toward cosmetic surgery in middle-aged women, emphasizing the influence of body dissatisfaction, aging anxiety, and media exposure on the consideration of cosmetic procedures (Slevec & Tiggemann, 2010). This underscores the impact of societal and personal factors on individuals' attitudes towards cosmetic surgery, particularly in relation to body image and aging concerns Moreover, Nerini et al. (2019) have delved into the association between self-compassion, body dissatisfaction, and acceptance of cosmetic surgery among young women, highlighting the role of self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness in mitigating body dissatisfaction and the propensity for cosmetic procedures (Nerini et al., 2019). This study offers valuable insights into the potential protective factors that may mitigate the impact of body shame on the acceptance of cosmetic surgery. ...
... Furthermore, Slevec & Tiggemann (2010) have examined attitudes toward cosmetic surgery in middle-aged women, emphasizing the influence of body dissatisfaction, aging anxiety, and media exposure on the consideration of cosmetic procedures (Slevec & Tiggemann, 2010). This underscores the impact of societal and personal factors on individuals' attitudes towards cosmetic surgery, particularly in relation to body image and aging concerns Moreover, Nerini et al. (2019) have delved into the association between self-compassion, body dissatisfaction, and acceptance of cosmetic surgery among young women, highlighting the role of self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness in mitigating body dissatisfaction and the propensity for cosmetic procedures (Nerini et al., 2019). This study offers valuable insights into the potential protective factors that may mitigate the impact of body shame on the acceptance of cosmetic surgery. ...
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The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between body shame and the inclination towards cosmetic surgery among female high school students in Shiraz. This applied research was conducted using a descriptive-correlational method. The study population included all female high school students in Shiraz, during the 2023-2024 academic year, from whom 350 individuals were selected through multi-stage cluster random sampling and studied. Data were collected using the Body Shame questionnaire by McKinley & Hyde (2001) and the Attitude Towards Cosmetic Surgery Scale by Swami et al. (2018). After data collection and extraction, participants' scores were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis. Regression test results showed that body shame has a significant effect on the inclination towards cosmetic surgery among female high school students in Shiraz (p<0.01). Pearson correlation coefficient results indicated that there is a significant positive correlation between body shame and the inclination towards cosmetic surgery (p<0.05). Consequently, the inclination towards cosmetic surgery can be significantly predicted through body shame.
... Finally, aligning with our sixth hypothesis, body dissatisfaction positively predicted consideration of cosmetic surgery. This result echoes the findings of previous studies (Di Gesto et al., 2022;Nerini et al., 2019;Sharp et al., 2014), which proposed that preoperative cosmetic surgery patients have high levels of body dissatisfaction. ...
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Existing research has related social media ideal beauty content to cosmetic surgery consideration; however, studies on how peer conversations regarding ideal beauty content on socsial media affect cosmetic surgery consideration are lacking. Drawing on components of the tripartite influence model, this study aims to integrate social media and peer appearance conversations into a coherent model to explore their combined impact on women’s consideration of cosmetic surgery. A sample of 2,126 women aged 18–30 years (Mage = 23.36) completed measures of beauty social media attention, peer appearance conversations, peer appearance comparisons, internalization of beauty ideals, body dissatisfaction, and consideration of cosmetic surgery. The findings indicated that attention to beauty content on social media directly affected consideration of cosmetic surgery while peer appearance conversations had an indirect effect. Additionally, peer appearance comparisons and the internalization of beauty ideals mediated the relationship between peer appearance conversations and body dissatisfaction. The findings provide new insights into the links between attention to the growing beauty trend on social media and consideration of cosmetic surgery. Furthermore, investigating the role of peer appearance conversations is conducive to guiding future interventions aimed at promoting positive body image among young women.
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Háttér és célkitűzések: A test megbecsülése a pozitív testkép jelenségkörének jelentős komponense, amely hozzájárul a pszichológiai jólléthez, protektív tényező a testképzavar, illetve a média által propagált, a fizikai megjelenéssel kapcsolatos elvárásokkal szemben. Jelen kutatássorozat célja a Test Megbecsülése Skála átdolgozott verziójának validálása magyarul (BAS2; Body Appreciation Scale-2). A mérőeszköz testpozitív állításokkal, nemtől függetlenül méri a saját testhez való viszonyt. Módszer: Az első vizsgálatban, amelyben 465 nő (M életkor = 21,9, SD = 2,5, 18–28 év) vett részt online, a test megbecsülését az önbecsüléssel, a testi válaszkészséggel, a vonzó megjelenés fontosságával, a testi attitűddel és a kozmetikai műtétek elfogadásával összefüggésben vizsgáltuk. Megerősítő faktorelemzést, korrelációs és MIMIC-elemzést futtattunk. A második vizsgálatban 102 egyetemista nő (M életkor = 20,6, SD = 2,0, 18–28 év) vett részt személyesen. A Scrambled Sentence feladatot primingként használtuk a kérdőívcsomag előtt, amelyben a test megbecsülését a kozmetikai műtétek elfogadásával, a tárgyiasított testtudattal és az önbecsüléssel összefüggésben vizsgáltuk. Eredmények: Eredményeink szerint az egyfaktoros Test Megbecsülése Skála-2 (BAS2) magyarul is kiváló mérőeszköz a saját testhez való pozitív, elfogadó viszonyulás mérésére. A test megbecsülésének magasabb szintje magasabb önbecsüléssel és testi válaszkészséggel függ össze, míg a saját testtel kapcsolatos negatív érzések (elégedetlenség, tárgyiasítás) a média által reklámozott szépségideállal, illetve a kozmetikai műtétek elfogadásának alacsonyabb szintjével áll kapcsolatban. A primingként alkalmazott testtárgyiasító üzenetekkel való feladatvégzés negatív kapcsolatban áll a test megbecsülésének alakulásával egyetemista nők körében. Következtetések: A testhez való viszonyt érdemes pozitív megközelítésből tovább vizsgálni, és olyan tényezőket feltárni, amelyek elősegítik a testhez való pozitív viszonyulás mihamarabbi kiépülését és megszilárdulását, különösen a közösségi média világában felnövő fiatalok esetében.
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Background and objectives: The Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS) can detect individual dif- ferences between women in the extent to which they internalize societal expectations about their physical appearance. The aim of this research is twofold. On the one hand, we would like to reflect on a previous Hungarian article that dealt with the above questionnaire. On the other hand, we would like to show that this questionnaire, which measures well in several languages, can be used in Hungarian with the original factors. Method: in our first study we used an online questionnaire package completed by 770 women (M 5 30.1 years; SD 5 11.3; 18–71 years). The questionnaire package included the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS), the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale (ACSS) and the Exercise Addiction Scale (EAI) and measured the satisfaction with their own body as well. In our second study, 102 female university students (M 5 20.7 years; SD 5 2.13; 18–29 years) participated. Data were collected face-to-face, where after the priming situation, we used the following questionnaire package: Objectified Body Con- sciousness Scale (OBCS), Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale (ACSS) and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). We used JASP for the factor structure analysis and Jamovi for the analyses during validation. Results: Our analyses show that the original triple factor structure works well on the Hungarian version of the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale. The three factors are Body Supervision, Body Shame, Control Beliefs. As expected, a higher degree of objectification is significantly associated with higher dissatisfaction with one’s own body, greater openness to cosmetic surgery, increased risk of developing exercise addiction, and lower self-esteem. Conclusions: Overall, the Objectified Body Image Scale in Hungarian was found to be adequate in measuring women’s experiences of objectification related to their bodies, using the originally defined factor structure. [Háttér és célkitűzések : A nőket jelentős szociokulturális nyomás éri a fizikai megjelenésükkel kapcsolatban. A Tárgyiasított Testtudat Skála (Objectified Body Consciousness Scale) képes kimutatni a nők közötti egyéni különbségeket abban, hogy a fizikai megjelenésükre vonatkozó társadalmi elvárásokat mennyire internalizálják. Jelen kutatás célja kettős. Egyrészt szeretnénk reflektálni egy korábbi magyar cikkre, amely a fenti kérdőívvel foglalkozott. Másrészt szeretnénk bemutatni, hogy ez a több nyelven is jól mérő kérdőív magyar nyelven is használható az eredeti faktorokkal. Módszer: Első vizsgálatunkban egy online kérdőívcsomagot használtunk, amelyet 770 nő ( M = 30,1 év; SD = 11,3; 18–71 év) töltött ki. A kérdőívcsomag a Tárgyiasított Testtudat Skálát (OBCS), a Kozmetikai Műtét Elfogadása Skálát (ACSS) és a Testedzésfüggőség Skálát (EAI) tartalmazta, továbbá felmérte a saját testtel kapcsolatos elégedettség szintjét is. Második vizsgálatunkban 102 egyetemista nő ( M = 20,7 év; SD = 2,13; 18–29 év) vett részt. Az adatfelvétel személyesen történt, ahol a priming helyzet után a következő kérdőívcsomagot használtuk: Tárgyiasított Testtudat Skála (OBCS), Kozmetikai Műtét Elfogadása Skála (ACSS) és a Rosenberg-féle Önértékelés Skála (RSES). A faktorstruktúra vizsgálatához a JASP, míg a validáláshoz a Jamovi programot használtuk. Eredmények: Elemzéseink szerint a Tárgyiasított Testtudat Skála magyar verzióján is jól működik az eredeti hármas faktorstruktúra. A három faktor a következő lett: Test felügyelet, Testszégyen, Kontroll hiedelmek. Az elvárásoknak megfelelően a magasabb fokú tárgyiasítás szignifikánsan összefügg a saját testtel való magasabb elégedetlenséggel, a kozmetikai műtétek iránti nagyobb nyitottsággal, a testedzésfüggőség kialakulásának fokozott veszélyével, illetve az alacsonyabb önértékeléssel. Következtetések: Összességében, a Tárgyiasított Testtudat Skála magyar nyelven is megfelelőnek bizonyult a nők testükkel kapcsolatos, tárgyiasításhoz fűződő tapasztalatainak mérésében, az eredetileg meghatározott faktorstruktúrát alkalmazva.]
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Objective: Extensive research has implicated identification with characters in mass media in the emergence of disordered eating behavior in adolescents. We explored the possible influence of the models offered by television (TV) on adolescents’ body image, body uneasiness, eating-disordered behavior, depression, and anxiety. Methods: Three hundred and one adolescents (aged 14-19) from southern Italy participated. They completed a questionnaire on media exposure and body dissatisfaction, the Eating Disorder Inventory-2, the Body Uneasiness Test, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory – Form Y. Results: The main factors contributing to females’ eating-disordered behaviors were their own desires to be similar to TV characters, the amount of reality and entertainment TV they watched, and the discrepancy between their perceptions of their bodies and those of TV characters. Friends’ desire to be similar to TV characters contributed most to depression, anxiety, body uneasiness, and eating disorders for both males and females. Conclusion: Our data confirm that extensive watching of reality and entertainment TV correlates with eating-disordered behavior among females. Moreover, the well-known negative effects of the media on adolescents’ eating-disordered behaviors may also be indirectly transmitted by friends who share identification with TV characters.
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The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS; Neff, 2003a) is the most widely used measure of self-compassion. Self-compassion, as measured by the SCS, is robustly linked to psychological health (Macbeth & Gumley, 2012; Zessin, Dickhaüser, & Garbade, 2015). The SCS is currently understood as exhibiting a higher-order structure comprised of 6 first-order factors and 1 second-order general self-compassion factor. Recently, some researchers have questioned the internal validity of this 1-factor conceptualization, and posit that the SCS may instead be comprised of 2 general factors—self-compassion and self-coldness. The current paper provides an in-depth examination of the internal structure of the SCS using oblique, higher-order, and bifactor structural models in a sample of 1,115 college students. The bifactor model comprised of 2 general factors—self-compassion and self-coldness—and 6 specific factors demonstrated the best fit to the data. Results also indicated the Self-Coldness factor accounted for unique variance in depression, anxiety, and stress, whereas the Self-Compassion factor only accounted for unique variance in its association with depression, providing further evidence for the presence of 2 distinct factors. Results did not provide support for the 1-factor composition of self-compassion currently used in research. Implications for using, scoring, and interpreting the SCS are discussed.
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Introduction. Negative feedback on appearance is a risk factor for the development of problems related to one's body image. Objective. The present research aimed to analyze the relationship among siblings' positive and negative appearance-related feedback, dissatisfaction with one’s body and risky eating behaviors among young women. The mediational role of body-related social comparison has been investigated. Method. 208 young women living in Italy, with a mean age of 23.15 years, filled in a questionnaire containing the Italian version of the Verbal Commentary on Physical Appearance Scale - Siblings, the Physical Appearance Comparison Scale, the Body Shape Questionnaire-14, and the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire. Results. Dissatisfaction with one’s body shows a significant link with risky eating behaviors. Weight and shape-related positive comments made by siblings were significantly and negatively related to social comparison, which in turn was associated with women’s dissatisfaction with their body image. Negative comments were directly linked to body dissatisfaction; the mediation role of social comparison with respect to negative comments was not confirmed. Conclusions. These findings underline the significant role of siblings in the development of females' body image. Programs aimed to prevent or reduce body dissatisfaction and risky eating behavior could be implemented; these programs should be concerned with not only negative feedback on appearance but also positive comments because of their relevant role.
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The paper discusses an ethical analysis of three common cases involving the most popular requests in rhinoplasty. As the nose plays a fundamental role in the aesthetics and physiognomy of the human face, the request for rhinoplasty may be an expression of both subjective discomfort and objective dysfunction. The paper aims, therefore, to fill the gap between qualitative-subjective impressions related to bodily self-perception and its quantitative-objective assessment. Ethical evaluation should start with consideration of the formal object and circumstances of the act, by posing the following question: Is this a real clinical case? Only after an undoubtedly positive answer to this question, should we consider specific case-related aspects; i.e., the best scientific evidence, available nosography and informed consent, before conducting an ethical evaluation of the case.
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Appearance-ideal internalization and appearance pressures are empirically-supported risk factors for body image disturbance and disordered eating in Western countries. Such a relationship has emerged also in the Italian context, where high rates of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating are present. The Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ) and its revisions are among the most commonly used instruments to assess the role of sociocultural influences on body image. Two studies were conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the female (Study 1, N = 732) and male (Study 2, N = 364) Italian versions of the SATAQ-4-Revised (SATAQ-4R-Female, SATAQ-4R-Male). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that the original seven-factor structure was replicated for women and men. The seven subscales (Internalization: Thin/Low Body Fat; Internalization: Muscular; Internalization: General Attractiveness; Pressures: Family; Pressures: Peers; Pressures: Significant Others; and Pressures: Media) showed good internal consistency and 4-week test-retest reliability. Associations between SATAQ-4R subscales and body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptomatology, drive for muscularity, self-esteem, family influences, and peer influences, suggested good convergent validity among both women and men. The present study provides evidence for the validity and reliability of the male and female Italian versions of the SATAQ-4R.
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Over the past 60 years, a growing body of research has investigated the psychological aspects of cosmetic surgery and related minimally-invasive treatments. While the earliest studies were influenced by psychoanalytic thinking, much of the work over the past several decades has been influenced by Thomas Cash's cognitive-behavioral theory of body image and has focused on the appearance concerns of patients who seek these procedures. The majority of individuals interested in the procedures report heightened dissatisfaction typically focused on the feature being considered for treatment. Studies from around the world also have suggested that between 5–15% of patients who present for cosmetic procedures meet diagnostic criteria for body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). While individuals with BDD typically do not report a reduction in their BDD symptoms following a cosmetic procedure, the great majority of patients without the disorder do report improvement in body image. The paper reviews this literature and also discusses the role of body image in three newer areas of plastic surgery—body contouring after massive weight loss, genital procedures (either for cosmetic purposes or as part of gender reassignment), and vascularized composite allotransplantation, including face and hand transplantation.
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Background: Minimally invasive cosmetic injectable procedures are increasingly common. However, a few studies have investigated changes in psychosocial functioning following these treatments. Objective: To assess changes in body image, quality of life, and self-esteem following cosmetic injectable treatment with soft tissue fillers and neuromodulators. Methods: Open, prospective study of 75 patients undergoing cosmetic injectable procedures for facial aging to evaluate changes in psychosocial functioning within 6 weeks of treatment. Outcome measures included the Derriford appearance scale (DAS-24), body image quality of life inventory (BIQLI), and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Results: Body image dissatisfaction, as assessed by the DAS-24, improved significantly 6 weeks after the treatment. Body image quality of life, as assessed by the BIQLI, improved, but the change did not reach statistical significance. Self-esteem was unchanged after the treatment. Conclusion: Minimally invasive cosmetic injectable procedures were associated with reductions in body image dissatisfaction. Future research, using recently developed cosmetic surgery-specific instruments, may provide further insight into the psychosocial benefits of minimally invasive procedures.
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Self-compassion is thought to protect from body image concerns. However, the mechanisms of this effect remain unclear. This study examined three positive dimensions of self-compassion as moderators of the mediated relationship between perceived overweight status, appearance comparison, and appearance esteem. A sample of 232 youth aged 13–18 years, mean = 18.36 (1.5) years, reported on appearance esteem, appearance comparison, perceived weight status, and self-compassion dimensions including self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. Among boys, mindfulness and common humanity moderated the perceived weight status to appearance comparison pathway of the mediation (ps = .01), such that this relationship was weaker among boys with higher levels of these dimensions of self-compassion. These findings were not replicated among girls. None of the self-compassion dimensions moderated the appearance comparison to appearance esteem pathway. Self-compassion dimensions that decrease the focus on the self may protect against body image concerns among boys.
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Objective: The Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-4 (SATAQ-4) is a measure of internalization of appearance ideals (i.e., personal acceptance of societal ideals) and appearance pressures (i.e., pressures to achieve the societal ideal). The current study sought to address limitations of the scale in order to increase precision in the measurement of muscular ideal internalization, include an assessment of one's desire for attractiveness, and broaden the measurement of appearance-related pressures. Method: The factor structure, reliability and construct validity of the SATAQ-4-Revised were examined among college women (N = 1,114) in Study 1, adolescent girls (N = 275) in Study 2, and college men (N = 290) in Study 3. Results: Factor analysis among college women indicated a 7-factor 31-item scale, labeled the SATAQ-4R-Female: (1) Internalization: Thin/Low Body Fat, (2) Internalization: Muscular, (3) Internalization: General Attractiveness, (4) Pressures: Family, (5) Pressures: Media, (6) Pressures: Peers, and (7) Pressures: Significant Others. SATAQ-4R-Female subscales demonstrated good reliability and construct validity among college women. Examination of the SATAQ-4R-Female among adolescent girls suggested a six-factor scale in which peer and significant others items comprised a single subscale. The scale demonstrated good reliability and construct validity in adolescent girls. Examination of the SATAQ-4R among men produced a 28-item scale with seven factors paralleling the factors identified among college women. This scale, labeled the SATAQ-4R-Male, demonstrated good reliability and construct validity. Discussion: Results support the reliability and validity of SATAQ-4R-Female in college women and adolescent girls, and the SATAQ-4R-Male in college men. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.(Int J Eat Disord 2016).