Question: What psychological effect does plastic sugery has?

Stephen Baillargeon answered on 19 Jun 2018:

I’ve thought about this one for a long time and I think I have an answer. The biggest, most terrifying thing I’ve come across as I’ve studied happiness is the Hedonic Treadmill. Basically what it is is the tendency for happiness to fade away after you get something that makes you happy. Even people who win the lottery tend to return to the level of happiness they were before just a few months later. Jobs and promotions, cars, marriage, houses, nothing seems to pass the three month mark. The Hedonic Treadmill is my biggest fear. So many people I care about have been suicidal and are facing huge struggles, and just want to someday be happy. Meanwhile, in high school,I’d had one of the most fortunate lives I could imagine, and still, I just wanted to be happy someday. It can be terrifying to face the fact that making your life better and getting almost everything you want is pretty close to pointless. This has been one of my least favorite things to come to terms with.

While there are things that correlate with happiness, it’s been pretty hard for psychologists to find them. People who have a good habit of exercise and meditation, people who practice mindfulness, self compassion, and have good coping skills, these people are the happy ones. Attractive people aren’t any happier than unattractive people, and getting most of the stuff you want won’t help you much. Based on the research I’ve read about how the Hedonic Treadmill relates to different kinds of things, I would expect that plastic surgery would improve someone’s emotional well-being for about three weeks.

The other thing I want to talk about in regards to this is that usually the desire to get plastic surgery comes from some low self-esteem. The strongest pro plastic surgery argument I hear is that it might elevate self-esteem, and self-esteem is correlated with happiness. However, I am one of those rare psychologists who is anti self-esteem. High self-esteem is when you have a very positive opinion of yourself, and while it’s hard to deny that it has a positive correlation with great things, it also correlates with narcissistic tendencies, aggression, and is inherently unstable. Relying on self-esteem to make you happy often involves relying on flattering comparisons to others and things outside of your control. I’ve extensively studied self-compassion as an alternative. People with high self-compassion unconditionally treat themselves with kindness and understanding.

Every time you’re faced with a situation that makes you upset, you have to make the choice between fixing the situation, or coping with it. Although many people agree on what and who is beautiful, it is subjective. If you are plagued by a dislike of your own face, that says more about you than it does your face. Disliking your face is not a physical problem; it’s an emotional one. If you are the kind of person who gets upset over a facial flaw, then you’ll probably always be able to find one. Your skin will break out, you’ll have zits, you’ll have scars, something will not express who you are, something will be asymmetrical. You’ll be able to find something wrong no matter what.

So if you want plastic surgery, it’s a want that probably won’t lead you far. I’d work hard to practice self-compassion, which is something you have control over. People can practice it just by writing themselves letters or even talking to themselves in the mirror with a kind and understanding tone. Your worth as a human is in no way influenced by your beauty.