The Effect of Cosmetic Surgery on Sexual Self-Esteem: Attitudes toward Body Image and Well-Being in Married Women

BACKGROUND: Nowadays in different communities, we are confronting an ever-increasing trend of cosmetic surgeries. The present research was carried out with the aim of investigating sexual self-esteem, attitude to body image and well-being in married women aged from 20 to 30 years old before and after cosmetic surgery in Tehran, Iran. METHODS: The research was a semi-experimental design with pre- and post-test. The statistical population consisted 80 married women. The research sample was selected by means of the convenience sampling approach. This group was similar in terms of age, education, and marital status. The research data were accumulated using the Zeanah and Schwarz sexual self-esteem questionnaire, the Fisher body image questionnaire and the Ryff psychological well-being questionnaire, and were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance. RESULTS: The average scores of all three variables, involving “sexual self-esteem”, “body image” and “well-being” were dramatically different before and after cosmetic surgery (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: It can be ascertained that people after cosmetic surgery had higher sexual self-esteem, were more satisfied with their body image, and experienced more well-being.