Cosmetic Surgery Makeover Programs and Intentions to Undergo Cosmetic Enhancements: A Consideration of Three Models of Media Effects

The recent proliferation of reality‐based television programs highlighting cosmetic surgery has raised concerns that such programming promotes unrealistic expectations of plastic surgery and increases the desire of viewers to undergo such procedures. In Study 1, a survey of 170 young adults indicated little relationship between cosmetic surgery makeover program viewing and body satisfaction or perception of risk but a small positive association with desire to undergo cosmetic surgical procedures. In Study 2, a survey of 271 young women allowed for a test of three theoretical explanations for this association. Evidence in support of cultivation theory, social cognitive theory, and social comparison theory emerged, thus highlighting the need for a more integrated theoretical model of media effects.