Avances en Psicología Latinoamericana (Dec 2011)
Predictors of attitudes toward cosmetic surgery among U.S. and Colombian college women: the roles of eating behaviors and demographic variables
Abstract
Cross-cultural studies on eating behaviors and relatedconstructs can identify cultural and social factorsthat contribute to eating disorder symptomatology.Eating disorders (EDs) are a major cause for concernin the U.S., and recent studies in Colombia have showngrowing rates among their female population. In addition,cosmetic surgery procedures have been increasingrapidly in both the U.S. and Colombia, and preliminaryresearch suggests a positive relation between disorderedeating and endorsement of plastic surgery. In samplesof college women from Colombia and the U.S., we investigatedpatterns of association between disorderedeating variables and cosmetic surgery acceptance. Ourapproach utilized separate analyses for various subcomponentsof disordered eating (to determine their uniqueassociations with cosmetic surgery acceptance) whileadjusting for potentially relevant covariates and examiningcross-cultural patterns. Participants were studentsat an urban, public college in the U.S. (n=163) and anurban, private college in Colombia (n=179). Overall,our findings suggested that participants from Colombiawith greater disordered eating were more likely to endorsecosmetic surgery for social reasons, while thosefrom the U.S. were more likely to consider undergoingcosmetic surgery for personal reasons. Differing findingsbetween the two samples may be due to cultural andsocial factors, which we delineate. These findings alsohave potential implications for presurgical counselingof cosmetic surgery candidates.
