According to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, an individual has five levels of needs; Physiological (basic, food, water, housing), Security (body safety, employment, resources, material possessions), Social Needs/Belonging (friendship, family, intimacy, etc.), Esteem (self-respect, recognition, trust, etc. ) ), Self-actualization (when the individual does something for himself based on his beliefs and morals, achieved after all other needs have been satisfied).
According to Maslow, at all levels below the level of self-actualization (except physiological needs), when a person fails to satisfy these needs, they will feel uncomfortable and tense. Therefore, the individual must first satisfy the lowest levels of needs (called deficiency needs) before moving on to the next level. Under these levels or hierarchy of needs, we could say that Vanity and Security would be located in the third and fourth need respectively, although Vanity could also be located in the level of esteem.
If we look at ads, websites and TV shows related to cosmetic surgery, patients or people have that desire to be beautiful. The reason for most of these people to undergo surgery is to satisfy their vanity. But what exactly is vanity? And why is it important to humans?
Vanity is the excessive belief in one’s own abilities and attractiveness which, according to the concept developed by Dr. Isiah Greene (who bases his concept on Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of capital), creates erotic capital for a person. Erotic capital is the power of a person created by her sexual attractiveness to other people. That is, the more attractive a person is, the more influence they have over the people they attract.
Of course, by having more erotic capital, it would be easier for a person to be accepted and satisfy that need to belong with their peers. In this sense, plastic surgery offers or satisfies a person’s psychological need by providing an investment of erotic capital.
Security, on the other hand, is the measure of an individual’s emotional stability. The more stable a person’s emotions are, the greater their ability to be happy. If a person is emotionally secure, their happiness cannot be shaken as easily as someone who is emotionally insecure. To have stable emotional security, you must have high self-esteem.
Self-esteem is a reflection of one’s concept of one’s own worth. If the person values themselves highly, they may possess high self-esteem or confidence without necessarily being arrogant.
Plastic Surgery provides this psychological need to people, especially if that person has suffered insecurities due to physical anomalies. People who have suffered emotional trauma due to ridicule and ridicule often have low self-confidence and therefore become distant with others. These people will sometimes make up for their insecurities with arrogance, aggression, or bullying, which is worse than just being shy and aloof with the people around you.
Therefore, in this sense, Plastic Surgery is very useful and helpful for people with insecurities. By correcting your physical abnormalities, your lack of self-esteem is compensated with confidence and self-belief.
In essence, cosmetic surgery has become popular in many parts of the world due to its ability to help people achieve and satisfy their psychological needs, as described by Maslow.
