Women's Tendency toward Cosmetic Surgery in Tehran

The purpose of this article is to study the prevalence of cosmetic surgery among women in Tehran and to determine factors influencing women toward such surgeries. The study was conducted via survey research method using the questionnaire as the data gathering technique. This research through the questionnaire examined 426 females residing in Tehran. The findings show that about 15 percent of the respondents have had cosmetic surgery of some kind. Most of the women were under 35 years of age، single،college-educated at the B. A. level، and of the middle class. The majority of the women expressed that their main motivation for going through these operations was to enhance their beauty as a factor for upgrading the self-confidence. The willingness to be operated on was affected by individual characteristics as well as by the influence exerted from outside. So that the number of singles، with higher education، those who hadnegative body image، and who had lower self-esteem was greater compared to other groups. Among other influential factors persuading women toward cosmetic surgery were: the family and friends، relatives، spouses، doctors، TV، and the satellite channels. The following characteristics were irrelevant: age، employment، class base، life satisfaction، religious beliefs، and attitudes.