Psychological Aspects of Cosmetic Surgery Among Females: A Media Literacy Training Intervention

INTRODUCTION: The present study examined the favorable attitude of a sample of female university students regarding elective cosmetic surgery, body dysmorphic disorder, self-esteem and body dissatisfaction following a media literacy training intervention.

METHODS: This study was a quasi-experimental type. The study sample included 140 female university students who were allocated to either the intervention (n=70) or the control group (n=70). Attitude toward cosmetic surgery, body dysmorphic disorder, self-esteem and, body satisfaction was measured in both groups before the intervention and 4 weeks later. Four media literacy training sessions were conducted over 4 weeks for the intervention group. The data was analyzed through analysis of covariance, student’s paired-samples t test, and Pearson correlation.

RESULTS: Our findings showed that favorable attitude, body dysmorphic disorder and body dissatisfaction scores were significantly lower (p<0.05) in the intervention group than the control group. Furthermore, self-esteem score increased significantly in the intervention group.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results underscores the importance of media literacy intervention in decreasing female’s favorable attitude towards elective cosmetic surgery, body dysmorphic disorder and body dissatisfaction as well as increasing self-esteem.