Aesthetic surgery: effects of rhinoplasty on the social perception of patients by others

Based on contemporary social psychological theory and research, the aesthetic appeal of one's physical appearance can have considerable influence on others--on social attraction, attitudes, attributions, and actions, which in turn can affect one's psychosocial experiences and development. From this perspective, the present controlled experiment represents a modified and extended replication of recent research testing the hypothesis that aesthetic surgeries such as rhinoplasty produce improvements in physical attractiveness that foster more favorable personality attributions by others. The hypothesis was largely supported--for male and female perceivers of patients of both sexes and various ages. The implications and limitations of these findings as well as the directions for further fruitful investigation are discussed.