The effect of the perception of aesthetic procedure on social media and their body image on women's decisions to have aesthetic surgery

This research aims to examine how social media affects people's perception of having aesthetic procedures and their body image. The research was designed with a descriptive-relational method. The population of the research consists of 283 women who applied to Plastic Surgery and Ear, Nose and Throat doctors in a private hospital and had plastic surgery within a year, and the sample number is 163 women. The data was collected between March 2023 and July 2023 with the "Socio-Demographic Characteristics Questionnaire", "Aesthetic Procedure Perception Scale on Social Media" and "Body Perception Scale". These data obtained were evaluated on a computer with the IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0 (SPSS INC., Chicago, IL, USA) statistical program. In the analysis of the data, frequency and percentage analyzes were used to determine the descriptive characteristics of the participants, and mean and standard deviation statistics were used to examine the scale. Kurtosis and skewness values were examined to determine the normal distribution levels of the data. The relationship between the data obtained from the scales was examined with Pearson correlation and linear regression analyses. For other analyses, independent groups t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc (Tukey, LSD) analyzes were used. In the study, p<0.05 was accepted as the level of statistical significance. In the study, the Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient of the Perception of Aesthetic Procedures on Social Media Scale was found to be 0.90. The total reliability coefficient of the scale in this study was found to be 0.91. As a result of the reliability analysis of the Body Image Scale, Cronbach's Alpha coefficient was found to be 0.91. The total reliability coefficient of the scale in this study was found to be 0.86. According to the data obtained from the research; It appears that there is a cause and effect relationship between the perception of having aesthetic procedures and body image on social media. It is seen that perceptions on social media and body image play an important role in women's decisions to have plastic surgery, and the impact of social media platforms on young and middle-aged women causes them to experience negative feelings about their body image by being exposed to idealized body perceptions. Particularly, the fact that the rate of participants aged 25 and under is 25.2%, that young people spend a long time on social media, and that they follow social media accounts related to plastic surgery procedures, shows that this young group is under the influence of social media. Key Words: Women, Aesthetics, Plastic Surgery, Nurse, Social Media, Body Image