APS Aesthetic Plastic Surgery · 2024

Exploring the Personality Characteristics of Rhinoplasty Patients: Perfectionism, Rumination, and Self-Compassion

Mete U, Demir UL, Güllülü RA, Eker SS, Duman F, Altun N.

PubMed 38806830 Publisher (DOI)Free full text (PMC)

What this paper says

Comparing 33 rhinoplasty patients against 33 controls, the surgical group scored significantly higher on perfectionism, with higher rumination and lower self-compassion that did not reach significance.

Overview

The authors compared three personality traits between people who had rhinoplasty and people who had never sought cosmetic surgery. Patients operated on between 2021 and 2023 at a university hospital were included if they had a first time operation with both functional and cosmetic concerns, excluding revision cases and purely functional ones. Controls attended the same centre for other complaints.

Sections of note

Design: case control comparison, 33 patients and 33 controls. Level of evidence III.
Instruments: the Frost multidimensional perfectionism scale, the ruminative thinking style questionnaire, and the self-compassion scale.
Perfectionism: 109.3 in the rhinoplasty group versus 94.15 in controls, the only difference reaching significance at p equal to 0.009.
Ruminative thinking: 87.9 versus 77.7.
Self-compassion: 80.4 versus 86.1, lower in the rhinoplasty group.
Within the rhinoplasty group, perfectionism correlated positively with ruminative thinking, r equal to 0.482, p equal to 0.005.
Self-compassion correlated negatively with ruminative thinking, r equal to minus 0.465, p equal to 0.006.
The authors recommend using such scales during consultations and follow up visits.

What it means for a patient

People who choose rhinoplasty scored higher on perfectionism than people who had not sought cosmetic surgery.
The differences in rumination and self-compassion pointed the same direction but were not statistically significant at this sample size.
Perfectionism and repetitive negative thinking travelled together, which is relevant because both can make a good surgical result feel insufficient.
Limits: 33 per group, one centre, traits measured after surgery rather than before, and controls drawn from clinic attenders rather than the general population.

Why this paper matters

Screening before cosmetic surgery focuses almost entirely on body dysmorphic disorder, a formal diagnosis, while ordinary personality traits go unmeasured. Perfectionism and rumination plausibly affect how a result is judged. Whether these traits predict dissatisfaction, and whether measuring them changes anything, is not tested here.

Terms

Perfectionism: setting exacting standards and reacting strongly to falling short of them.
Ruminative thinking: repeatedly going over the same negative thoughts.
Self-compassion: treating oneself with kindness rather than harsh judgment.
Case control study: comparing a group with a characteristic against a group without it.
Correlation coefficient: a number from minus 1 to 1 describing how strongly two measures move together.

Summary written by rhinoplasty.cc from the abstract, 2026-09-09; not medical advice. The authors' own abstract follows.

Abstract

Objective: This study investigates differences in personality characteristics, including perfectionism, ruminative thinking style, and self-compassion, between individuals who have undergone rhinoplasty and a control group without any history of cosmetic surgery.

Methods: The study included 33 adult patients who underwent rhinoplasty between 2021 and 2023 at Bursa Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine Hospital and 33 adult patients who visited our centre for other complaints as a control group. The rhinoplasty group consisted of primary surgical patients with functional and cosmetic concerns, excluding those who sought revision surgery or had only functional problems. The control group consisted of individuals with no prior cosmetic surgery history and no expectations of aesthetic interventions. Psychiatric analysis was performed using Frost multidimensional perfectionism scale, ruminative thinking style questionnaire, and self-compassion scale.

Results: This research revealed that individuals who had rhinoplasty scored higher in perfectionism 109.3 (±23.3) and ruminative thinking 87.9 (±22) compared to those who did not undergo surgery 94.15 (±22.2) and 77.7 (±23), respectively. Additionally, the rhinoplasty group had lower self-compassion scores, 80.4 (±17.3), than the control group, 86.1 (±11.2). Statistically significant differences were observed in perfectionism between the groups (p = 0.009). In rhinoplasty patients, a notably positive correlation was found between perfectionism and ruminative thinking scores (r = 0.482; p = 0.005), while a moderately significant negative correlation was observed between self-compassion and ruminative thinking scores (r = - 0.465; p = 0.006).

Conclusion: Individuals who undergo rhinoplasty generally show increased levels of perfectionism and are more prone to ruminative thinking. They also demonstrate reduced self-compassion compared to non-surgical control groups. Cosmetic surgeons should be aware of these psychological trends and consider using appropriate scales during pre-surgery consultations and follow-up visits. Adopting this informed approach can improve the surgeon-patient relationship and help overcome communication challenges.

Level Of Evidence Iii: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Abstract as indexed by PubMed; the article is open access (PubMed Central).