Access Type

Open Access Dissertation

Date of Award

1-1-2010

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Communication

First Advisor

Hayg Oshagan

Abstract

The current study investigates media's influence on Caucasian women to culturally appropriate the physical features generally ascribed to African American women through non-surgical and or surgical cosmetic procedures and vice versa. Participants were 26 African American women and 54 Caucasian women who had previously undergone either non-surgical or surgical cosmetic procedures. Results indicate that African American women were more likely to culturally appropriate than Caucasian women. For African American women high media exposure to cosmetic surgery media messages played a significant role in the cultural appropriation process. Results also indicated that Caucasian women culturally appropriate at the same level, whether media use content and media exposure to cosmetic surgery media messages was high or low. Older age was also a factor in cultural appropriation for Caucasian women. Cultural appropriation was measured using the Cosmetic Surgery Physical Feature Scale (CSPFS; Lee, 2009). High media use content and high exposure to cosmetic surgery media messages were directly related to African American women's endorsement of cosmetic surgery for social reasons. Caucasian women were also more likely than African American women to endorse cosmetic surgery for intrapersonal reasons. The Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery (ACSS; Henderson-King & Henderson-King, 2005) social and intrapersonal subscales were used to measure social and intrapersonal reasons for endorsement of cosmetic surgery.

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