Summary of Plastic Surgery Article Essay Example

Background, Introduction and Aim

With increasing attention on plastic surgery, the aesthetic plastic surgery component of it has become more and more important in recent years. Consequently more research has been conducted on the psychological features related to surgery. This bearing in mind the purpose of aesthetic surgery which is basically that which is done on normal body parts to improve appearance. This is particularly important because people around the developed world are becoming more and more concerned about their looks as suggested by Murphy & Wood, (2003, Pg. 55) . The effects of social media and alteration of the body appearance on people choice about aesthetic plastic surgery are among areas that have received most attention. The prime purpose of the research was to determine issues of psychology related to surgery among surgery patient of Italy who underwent aesthetic surgery and the influence of the social media and alteration of the body appearance on the choice of aesthetic surgery to undergo. This research focused on surgical patients of the Italian population that underwent this particular surgery and the following is a brief account of how it was conducted and the findings.

Methodology

This is means the research explores the likelihood of a patient taking or not taken a certain aesthetic surgery procedure and thus used partially used exploratory research. This was particularly made necessary by the increasing numbers of users owing to the discovery of safer beauty and aesthetic surgery. The two data collection methods chosen for the study included the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire, (PDQ) and the Body Uneasiness Test, (BUT). The PDQ was used to determine whether or not Italian patients that underwent surgery had any sort of personality disorders. The BUT on the other hand was used to measure among other; patient’s weight phobia, concerns over body image, avoidance, compulsive self monitoring, detachment and estrangement feelings towards one’s own body. This aided in obtaining unchanged first hand data as well as elimination of bias. It also boasted accuracy.

The main finding on the research was that; Italian patients who underwent aesthetic surgery were more concerned about the effect of this surgery on their images rather than the results. About 30% of Italian patients for aesthetic surgery exhibit detachment due to mainly two reasons. First, prior to the surgery, detachment is because of the state that prompts the surgery in the first place. Secondly, the need for privacy during recovery in order to keep it secret that for instance one’s face was surgically repaired. This consequently affected their psychology prior to and after the surgery. Also the research indicated that the mass media has influence on the choice of aesthetic surgery procedure Italian surgery patients chose. About 60 % of all aesthetic surgery patients in Italy learn about the same from the media channels mostly publications like La Stampa and La Repubblica. Among the aesthetic surgery procedures available for selection included among other liposuction and breast augmentation. Finally, the research established that the choice of the aesthetic surgery to undertake was influenced by the surgery’s effect on the patient’s bodily image.

Conclusion

In summary, aesthetic surgery has become an integral part of plastic surgery. The choice of whether or not to take among others beauty and cosmetic surgery is determined by the mass media and the effects of the aesthetic surgery procedure on the patient’s body image as shown by Murphy & Wood, (2003, Pg. 13). There are numerous psychological effects on aesthetic surgery patients. This are well shown by the BUT test and the PDQ test as already discussed. Generally, in as much as more and more Italians are joining the world of aesthetic surgery, more attention is paid on image dissatisfaction as compared to results of the surgical procedures.

Reference list

Murphy, P. R., & Wood, D. F. (2003). Contemporary logistics. Pearson College Division.