The Importance of Media on Decision to Undergo Cosmetic Surgery Operation.

[BACKGROUND] How media disseminates ideal beauty, and its effect on the decision-making process of cosmetic procedures are among the most discussed topics in the literature. This study aimed to investigate the effects of media on patients' decisions to undergo cosmetic surgery.

[MATERIALS AND METHODS] Between March and September 2021, 82 patients participated in this study and informed consent was obtained from all patients. A questionnaire containing three different parts was developed by a consultant plastic surgeon and a public relations and marketing specialist, according to the literature. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 22.0.

[RESULTS] The majority of patients underwent rhinoplasty (31.7%), breast reduction (25.6%), and breast augmentation (12.2%). Some of the patients underwent two different operations (6%). The correlation analysis results showed that, there was a medium, positive correlation between wanting to be attractive and thinking that media is an important tool in the decision to undergo cosmetic surgery (r=.307, p<.01). Want to look like people on the media and compare themselves with those showing a positive and strong correlation (r=.640, p<.01). The photographs on the magazines affected the patients aged between 40-49 and 50-59 more (χ(4) = 11,378, p<.05); however, the published news on the Internet affected the younger sample (30-39 and 21-29) more than the other age groups (χ(4)= 11,808, p<.05). The participants aged 30-39 and 21-29 tend to compare themselves with people on the Internet.

[CONCLUSION] The study concludes that media is not only important for disseminating beauty ideals but is also an important source during decision making. However, further studies with more participants and objective scales are needed to verify our results.

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