Body Image Influence on Cosmetic Enhancement Decisions
Alongside GLP-1s, other aesthetic treatments, like cosmetic surgery, are common in altering one’s appearance when struggling with body image. The article by Al-Bashaireh et al. (2025) explores how female college students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) perceive body image and how these perceptions influence their attitudes toward cosmetic surgery. The authors conduct their research in the context of people who undergo cosmetic procedures, increasing societal pressures to meet the beauty standards (Al-Bashaireh et al., 2025). Women are constantly comparing themselves to the desired beauty standard, internally objectifying themselves. In turn, this creates a self-perception of body image, which can influence the type of methods to achieve those looks.
The main research questions examined by the authors are how much knowledge and motivation female college students have regarding cosmetic surgery, how prevalent it is among them, and how body image influences their attitude towards cosmetic surgery (Al-Bashaireh et al., 2025). The population sample of female college students was intentional because this population is more prone to body image perceptions, which can lead to cosmetic procedures. This cross-sectional study conducted different surveys on a sample population of 783 Emirati female college students. The measures they used to collect information on the relationship between body image and attitudes towards cosmetic procedures included demographic and cosmetic-related questionnaires, the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS), and the Attitude Toward Cosmetic Surgery Scale (ACSS) (Al-Bashaireh et al., 2025).
With the information collected from their methodology, the authors found that nearly half, or 47.6% of the participants considered cosmetic procedures/surgeries as necessary, and their main motivator was to improve their appearance. They found that filler and Botox treatments were more common among cosmetic procedures. However, there was no correlation between body image and the perspectives towards cosmetic surgery. Overall, body image was high among this population, but those who underwent a cosmetic procedure reported having a lower body image and a higher acceptance of cosmetic surgery (Al-Bashaireh et al., 2025).
This article relates to and enhances my topic of how medical treatments, like Botox and rhinoplasty, are used for aesthetic purposes to alter physical appearance due to beauty standards set by society. Cosmetic procedures are becoming more normalized, regardless of whether the individual has a low body image. This shows that the increase in medical treatments used for aesthetic purposes is not only driven by low self-esteem and body image, but also by the social expectations to look a certain way and accepting these alterations as a way to change one’s appearance. This article specifically examines how Botox, fillers, and rhinoplasty, which are [potential] medical treatments, have been shifted to tools that construct the ideal beauty standard in society. The lack of relationship between body image and the perspectives on cosmetic surgery also suggests that people pursue these aesthetic treatments even when they feel secure in their body because of the societal pressures to fit the beauty standard and the normalization of using medical treatments for non-medical purposes.
The focus of female college students as the population sample for this study reduces the generalizability of these findings to society as a whole. The research methodology also creates limitations. A cross-sectional study limits the causal relationship between the variables, and the self-reported data creates possible biases. The main inconsistency I noticed in this study is that research shows that both high and low body image see cosmetic procedures as acceptable. Another inconsistency I noticed was that there was no correlation between body image and attitudes toward cosmetic surgery, however, those who did undergo cosmetic surgery had low body image and high acceptance of surgery. Alongside the inconsistencies, a gap in this research study is the lack of consideration of social media as an influence on body image and beauty standards.
In conclusion, the article by Al-Bashaireh et al. (2025) shows a valuable insight into the progressive acceptance of cosmetic procedures for aesthetic purposes and the normalization of these enhancements in young adult females. These findings show how medical treatments being used for aesthetic purposes are relevant in understanding society’s pressures to shape the ideal appearance. For future research opportunities, looking into social media’s role and influence on medical treatments being normalized for cosmetic purposes can greatly enhance the understanding of medical sociology. Overall, the use of medical treatments for non-medical issues is ongoing in society, even in non-Western societies.
--(Al-Bashaireh et al., 2025)