Cosmetic surgery, attraction and body image in Australia

Despite the increase in demand for cosmetic surgery there is little evidence on a national level regarding demand for surgery or how many people have actually had it. We analyse a module of questions commissioned for a national survey conducted in 2009 to examine the incidence of cosmetic surgery, and how it relates to self-assessed attractiveness and body image in Australia. Unsurprisingly, women are much more likely to have had cosmetic surgery than men, while dissatisfaction with body shape increases the likelihood of both wanting and having had cosmetic surgery. Age is also a factor. The 40-49 age group are most likely to say they would have cosmetic surgery if they could afford to, but those in their latter years are most likely to have actually had cosmetic surgery. Our analyses also revealed that single people are less likely than those with partners to have cosmetic surgery or to want to have it, perhaps indicating that partner pressure influences decision making, although the finding that the ‘unattractive’ are less likely than the ‘attractive’ to want to undergo surgery is more puzzling. Supporters of the Liberal or National parties are about twice as likely as Labor or Green supporters to have surgery controlling for their social background, suggesting that cosmetic surgery is at least to an extent a consumption/lifestyle driven status signifier in Australia.