Cutting Emotion. The Role of Disgust Propensity in Predicting Body Dissatisfaction and Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Among Italian Women

INTRODUCTION. Recently there is an increasing number of women having cosmetic procedures (ASAPS, 2017). Italy ranks sixth in the list of countries with the largest number of women who underwent cosmetic surgical procedures (ISAPS, 2017). Such interest can derive from the emphasis that the Italian society places on physical appearance (Barcaccia et al., 2018) and from the high levels of body dissatisfaction in western countries among women (MacNeill et al., 2017) also in the Italian context (Pirani & Matera, 2018). Several studies show that body dissatisfaction is associated with eating disorders (Amaral & Ferreira, 2017; Girard et al., 2018) and favorable attitudes towards unnecessary cosmetic surgery interventions among women (Lunde, 2013; Stefanile et al., 2014). Nevertheless, some evidence suggests that positive body image do not increase in women who have undergone cosmetic surgery (Sobanko et al., 2018). Research is emerging to suggest that disgust may play a role in negative attitudes towards one’s body (Aharoni & Hertz, 2012). However, research on the relationship between disgust propensity, body dissatisfaction (Stasik-O’Brien & Schmidt, 2018) and acceptance of cosmetic surgery has been relatively neglected. Based on previous findings (e.g. Tiggemann & Lewis, 2004) we hypothesize that when people show high levels of disgust propensity, they might experience body dissatisfaction and favorable attitudes towards cosmetic surgery as a strategy to modify their appearance via body dissatisfaction. levels both of body dissatisfaction and acceptance of cosmetic surgery among Italian women. In the latter case body dissatisfaction was taken into account as a mediating variable. METHODS. Participants were 217 Italian women (mean-age=28, SD=8.23; mean- BMI=22, SD=3.12) who completed a questionnaire containing the Disgust Propensity and Sensitivity Scale-Revised, the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale and the Body Shape Questionnaire-14. Descriptive analysis and hierarchical regressions were performed. To assess whether mediation occurred, we used Sobel’s test. RESULTS. Regression analysis show that disgust propensity is a predictor of body dissatisfaction, after controlling for BMI. Furthermore, disgust propensity predicts the consideration of undergoing cosmetic surgery and the acceptance of cosmetic surgery both for intrapersonal and social reasons. Body dissatisfaction mediates the relationship between disgust propensity and acceptance of cosmetic surgery. DISCUSSION. Women with an inclination to respond with disgust to any stimulus or situation are more likely to experience body dissatisfaction. Furthermore, disgust propensity among women predicts the consideration of cosmetic surgery and its acceptance as a means to obtain both intrapersonal and social benefits deriving from appearing more attractive to others via body dissatisfaction. CONCLUSION. These findings provide important information about the factors implicated in body dissatisfaction and interest in cosmetic surgery by women. A greater understanding of predictors of body dissatisfaction and acceptance of cosmetic surgery may be useful for planning cognitive-behavioral therapeutic interventions aimed at reducing body dissatisfaction as a predictor of eating disorders. The role of disgust propensity seems to be pivotal, as higher scores on this emotion are linked to higher levels of body dissatisfaction and greater acceptance of unnecessary cosmetic surgery procedures.