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Selfie-editing, facial dissatisfaction, and cosmetic surgery consideration among Chinese adolescents: A longitudinal study

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Abstract

The present study aimed to explore the predicting role of selfie-editing in cosmetic surgery consideration among adolescents. The influence of facial dissatisfaction on adolescents’ cosmetic surgery consideration was also investigated. Furthermore, we examined the possible mediating effects and the potential gender differences in the mediation model. The model was tested with 767 Chinese adolescents (383 boys and 384 girls, mean age = 15.78 at Time 1, SD = 1.96) using a longitudinal design. Participants completed selfie-editing, facial dissatisfaction, and cosmetic surgery consideration at baseline and at 6-month follow-up. Results showed that the initial selfie-editing and facial dissatisfaction positively predicted the subsequent cosmetic surgery consideration among adolescents over time. Facial dissatisfaction mediated the link from selfie-editing to cosmetic surgery consideration. No gender differences were found in the mediation model. The findings of this study provide new insight into the relationship between selfie activities and cosmetic surgery and have practical implications for reducing cosmetic surgery among adolescents.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Project funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M680268).The authors thank Jinjin Guo, Jiayi Wang, Lipeng Yin, Jie Long, and Yuan Fang for assistance in data collection and data entry and thank Dr. Xiaochun Xie and Dr. Xingchao Wang for their help in the revision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    Yuhui Wang

  2. School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, 100876, China

    Xiaoyuan Chu

  3. Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China

    Jia Nie & Xiao Gu

  4. School of Education, Renmin University of China, No. 59 Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100872, China

    Li Lei

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  1. Yuhui Wang
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Correspondence to Li Lei.

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Wang, Y., Chu, X., Nie, J. et al. Selfie-editing, facial dissatisfaction, and cosmetic surgery consideration among Chinese adolescents: A longitudinal study. Curr Psychol 41, 9027–9037 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01280-4

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