Page 121 - Read Online

Original Article Plastic and Aesthetic Research

Self-esteem and rhinoplasty: a case-control

study

Mohsen Naraghi 1,2,3 , Mohammad Atari 4

1 Division of Rhinology and Facial Plastic Surgery, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tehran University of
Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155-6456, Iran.
2 Otorhinolaryngology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155-6456, Iran.
3 Rhinology Research Society, Tehran 14155-6456, Iran.
4 Department of Psychology, University of Tehran, Tehran 14155-6456, Iran.
Address for correspondence: Dr. Mohammad Atari, Department of Psychology, University of Tehran, Jalal-ale-Ahmad Bridge, Faculty of
Psychology and Educational Sciences, Tehran 14155-6456, Iran. E-mail: atari@ut.ac.ir

ABSTRACT
Aim: Self-esteem is one’s attitude towards oneself. It is one of the most important psychological aspects
of rhinoplasty, a common aesthetic operation. Prior studies have indicated an improvement in patients’
self-esteem after this operation. The aim of current study was to preoperatively compare self-esteem
in patients seeking aesthetic rhinoplasty with that of functional rhinoplasty patients. Methods: A
total of 42 patients completed the validated Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale preoperatively (21 aesthetic
surgery patients and 21 functional surgery patients). Those with both aesthetic and functional purposes
were categorized regarding their primary objective. The t-test for independent groups was used for
analysis of the data, and Cohen’s d was calculated as a measure of effect size. Results: The mean level
of self-esteem in the aesthetic surgery group was significantly lower than that of the functional surgery
group (P < 0.05). Age, gender, socio-economic status, and educational backgrounds were analyzed and
comparative analysis of each showed no significant difference between the two groups. The value of
effect size measure was very high (d = 1.04). Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed
that aesthetic rhinoplasty patients had lower self-esteem in comparison with functional rhinoplasty
patients.

Key words:
Cosmetic surgery; aesthetic rhinoplasty; functional rhinoplasty; self-esteem

INTRODUCTION sex alliances, [4,5] and elicit positive treatment in various
settings. As a result, it is not surprising that philosophers
[6]
Beauty is admired by everyone, and facial beauty is the and scientists have long puzzled over what makes a face
most important component of beauty among humans. more attractive and why we have specific preferences. [7]
Several studies have suggested that the perception of
facial attractiveness is relatively independent of culture. [1,2] The nose plays a significant role in facial beauty. Awareness
[8]
Attractive faces activate reward centers in the brain, of its role in facial beauty and the emphasis on beauty by
[3]
motivate sexual behavior and the development of same-
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Access this article online Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix,
tweak and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited
Quick Response Code: and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
Website:
http://parjournal.net
For reprints contact: service@oaepublish.com
DOI: How to cite this article: Naraghi M, Atari M. Self-esteem and
10.20517/2347-9264.2015.103 rhinoplasty: a case-control study. Plast Aesthet Res 2016;3:111-4.
Received: 24-09-2015; Accepted: 18-12-2015

© 2016 Plastic and Aesthetic Research | Published by OAE Publishing Inc. 111