Assessment of beliefs about appearance and inferiority feeling in cosmetic surgery candidates

Cosmetic surgery is performed for improvement of psycho-social function in absence physical cues. This multidimensional concept depends on many factors such as beliefs about appearance and inferiority feeling. The purpose of this study was to compare two factors of beliefs about appearance and inferiority feeling in volunteer and non-volunteer individuals for cosmetic surgery, investigation of the relationship between these factors, and evaluations of the predictors for seeking cosmetic surgery among the participants. In this case-control research, 50 individuals who were seeking cosmetic surgery and were admitted at cosmetic clinics in Tabriz and 50 individuals who were not seeking cosmetic surgery were asked participate. The participants were enrolled to the study using available sampling mehods. There were differences between beliefs about appearance and inferiority feeling in those sought and those did not seek cosmetic surgery. Those who sought cosmetic surgery achieved higher scores in both factors in comparison with those did not seek those procedures. It also became clear that there was a relationship between beliefs about appearance and inferiority feeling of volunteers of the cosmetic surgery: the higher were the individuals scores in beliefs about appearance, the higher was the inferiority feeling. From another perspective, it was observed that the two factors of marital status and inferiority feeling were strong predictors for tendency to the cosmetic surgery. Motivation for the cosmetic surgery has its roots in a combination of cognitional, personal, and interpersonal factors; therefore, psychological counseling is advised before cosmetic surgery.