Teenage years have always been linked with a heightened concern with appearance. Unfortunately, some reality TV shows take full advantage of this fact and suggest that happiness can be just a nip or tuck away!
Rutgers-Camden psychologists have found that teens fond of these kinds of TV shows are more likely to join the millions who go under the knife each year. For bodies - and minds - still in development, these drastic decisions could have serious long term implications.
Usually when we think of cosmetic surgery, we don't think of it as a lifetime issue. There is lots of pressure to look a certain way, but we're all guilty of feeling vulnerable, note the researchers. They also say that what young men and women think of their bodies at the young age, will culminate over time and contribute to their overall health. However, there's no conclusive data that cosmetic surgery even makes people happier, what has been documented is that it makes repeat customers.
The research team surveyed nearly 200 participants with an average age of 20 on their immediate responses to an 'extreme makeover' programme or a show on home improvement - incorporated specifically to mask the intent of the study. Both men and women were included in the study and the procedures examined were ones either gender could pursue.
As suspected, women were more likely to want cosmetic surgery than men and viewers of the cosmetic surgery show were more inclined to consider the procedure for themselves than those who didn't tune in.
This seems sad because outward appearance seems to be the sole avenue to self satisfaction and this road is circular.
In Western television, while ABC's Extreme Makeover, which led to the Extreme Makeover-Home Edition, was cancelled in 2007, it sparked the development of several other similarly themed shows like Fox's The Swan, the drama Nip/Tuck, MTV's I Want a Famous Face, E's Dr. 90210 and Oxygen's Addicted to Beauty. The impact of reality television as a new media influence - regardless of topic - also raises many questions about what is being portrayed to viewers as real and indicative of everyday life.
The researchers suggest that at an early age we need to tell our kids one important thing - "I love you just the way you are."
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