Over the past decade, the rate of cosmetic surgery procedures has skyrocketed in the United States. Since 1997, there has been a 457% increase in all cosmetic procedures, with nearly 11.7 million procedures performed nationally in 2007 (American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, ASAPS, 2008). Approximately 10.6 million surgical cosmetic procedures in 2007 were performed on women, whereas 1.1 million procedures were performed on men. Moreover, 21% of these procedures were performed on individuals between 19 and 34 years of age, and 27% of 18–24 year olds reported that they would consider undergoing cosmetic surgery now or in the future (ASAPS, 2008).
With the rise in cosmetic surgery interest, researchers have begun to explore a number of variables that may lead some individuals, but not others, to consider cosmetic surgery. There is accumulating evidence that certain intrapersonal factors, such as body image dissatisfaction (Henderson-King and Henderson-King, 2005 and Sarwer et al., 1998), low self-rated attractiveness (Brown, Furnham, Glanville, & Swami, 2007), psychological investment in appearance (Delinsky, 2005, Sarwer et al., 2003 and Sarwer et al., 2005), attachment anxiety (Davis & Vernon, 2002), body dysmorphic disorder (Crerand et al., 2006 and Sarwer and Crerand, 2008) and previous experience with cosmetic surgery (Swami et al., 2008) predict acceptance of, and interest in, cosmetic surgery. Social and interpersonal factors, such as appearance-related teasing (Sarwer et al., 2003), vicarious experiences of cosmetic surgery via family and friends (Brown et al., 2007, Delinsky, 2005 and Swami et al., 2008), and internalization of sociocultural appearance messages and ideals from the media and entertainment industries (Delinsky, 2005, Henderson-King and Brooks, 2009, Sarwer et al., 2005, Sperry et al., 2009 and Swami et al., 2008) have also been implicated in the desire for cosmetic surgery.
The present study adds to this growing body of literature by examining the role of a new personality construct in predicting cosmetic surgery interest: appearance-based rejection sensitivity (Appearance-RS, Park, 2007). Appearance-RS refers to the dispositional tendency to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and overreact to signs of rejection based on one's physical appearance. Whereas previous studies have typically reported main effects of demographic, personality, or sociocultural variables in predicting cosmetic surgery interest (Brown et al., 2007, Davis and Vernon, 2002, Delinsky, 2005, Henderson-King and Henderson-King, 2005, Sarwer et al., 2003 and Sperry et al., 2009), the present study is the first to examine empirically whether aspects of the person (Appearance-RS) interact with aspects of the situation (appearance-related teasing) to influence current interest in cosmetic surgery.
Although cosmetic surgery reflects a drastic form of controlling and changing one's appearance, considering such procedures may help to alleviate anxious expectations of rejection based on appearance for those with high Appearance-RS.1 Because people's goals and decisions are often shaped by both internal and external forces, it seems important to investigate factors underlying cosmetic surgery interest, and to understand how individuals respond to situational influences when predicting their interest in cosmetic surgery.
