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who had to get reconstructive surgery after an accident, they may be better prepared for the uncertainties of life. Individuals that have family members who have had positive experiences may consider getting cosmetic work done after seeing the transformation of an individual closely related to them. The statistically significant relationships found regarding familial experience are predictive of individual’s attitudes towards having plastic surgery, but it is important to remember that the strength of and the direction between the variables was not determined. Analysis of the relationship between parental attitudes towards plastic surgery and the acknowledgment of cosmetic procedures as beneficial to one’s self-esteem was done to see if perceived parental attitudes are associated with attitudes towards others getting cosmetic surgery. Two additional chi square tests were conducted to compare one’s support from their mother and father regarding getting plastic surgery and attitudes towards others getting plastic surgery, but neither relationship was statistically significant. The p values for the mother’s support and father’s support (p=0.544; 38 p=0.482) showed that the measures are independent of one’s attitudes towards other individuals getting plastic surgery. General frequencies of responses to the question associating cosmetic surgery with benefits to a person’s self-image (Table 7) revealed an overall accepting attitude towards individuals getting plastic surgery from all research participants. Eighty-four percent of participants either agreed or strongly agreed that cosmetic surgery can be beneficial to one’s self-image. This suggests that college men and women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one have a positive attitude toward others having plastic surgery. Statistically significant relationships were found between maternal support and reluctance to tell people other than family about having cosmetic surgery (p=0.008), reluctance to tell people other than family and close friends about having cosmetic surgery (p=0.004), and eagerness to tell people other than friends about having cosmetic surgery (p=0.019) were identified. Chi square tests that attempted to relate financial considerations, desirability, medical risk associated with cosmetic and reconstructive procedures, influence that media content has on friend’s attitudes and social acceptability of closely related individuals towards plastic surgery with maternal attitudes towards plastic surgery were not successful. All p values calculated were greater than 0.05. Table 7: Cosmetic Surgery can be Beneficial to One's Self-Image Count Percentage Strongly agree 22 44.0% Agree 20 40.0% Neither agree nor disagree 7 14.0% Disagree 1 2.0% Strongly disagree 0 0.0% Don't know 0 0.0% 39 Statistically significant relationships were found between paternal support and having plastic surgery with unlimited amounts of money (p=0.004), reluctance in telling people other than friends about having cosmetic surgery (p=0.002), eagerness in telling people other than family about having cosmetic surgery (p=0.038) and eagerness in telling people other than friends about having cosmetic surgery (p=0.021). Chi square tests that attempted to relate medical risk associated with cosmetic and reconstructive procedures, influence that media content has on friend’s attitudes and social acceptability of closely related individuals towards plastic surgery with paternal attitudes towards plastic surgery were not successful. All p values calculated for testing relatedness between these variables and paternal attitudes were greater than 0.05. I assessed maternal and paternal surgery attitudes separately in part because each parent may have been perceived to have different views, and also I was unsure whether some respondents may have been raised by a single parent or may have been unaware of one parent’s views. Relationships between maternal support and reluctance to tell people other than family (p=0.008) and reluctance to tell people other than family and close friends (p=0.004) about having cosmetic surgery suggest that the knowledge an individual has regarding their mother’s attitudes toward plastic surgery has an influence on how reluctant they would or would not be telling their family and individuals that aren’t close family or friends about having cosmetic surgery. Individuals who know they have their mother’s support when they undergo plastic surgery may not be reluctant to tell their family, friends and others because their mother’s support and attitudes may be all that the individual considers as important. Individuals may also be reluctant to tell family or strangers about having plastic surgery if they know their mother thinks it should 40 be a secret. The relationship between maternal support and eagerness to tell people other than friends about having cosmetic surgery (p=0.019) suggests that individuals may be eager to tell their mothers about their experience or may only be eager to tell friends because friends may understand feelings and desires that parents do not. The relationships between paternal support and reluctance in telling people other than friends about having cosmetic surgery (p=0.002) and eagerness in telling people other than family (p=0.038) and other than friends (p=0.021) about having cosmetic surgery suggest the same influences that the maternal support relationships do.
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