Women who undergo cosmetic surgery find work more enjoyable: Australian study

A vast majority of people who have cosmetic facial surgery feel better about their jobs when they return to work, Australian researchers have found.

The study, published by the University of Melbourne on Wednesday, found that a change in self-esteem following surgery can influence the perception of other parts of patients' lives, including work.

Alicia Kalus and Christina Cregan from the Faculty of Business and Economics surveyed patients from two major Melbourne private aesthetic plastic surgery clinics with 82 per cent of respondents being women aged between 19 and 69 with an average age of 42.

Half of all respondents had undergone surgery on their nose, a third had eyelid surgery and a quarter had a facelift.

"We found that change in self-esteem following surgery was associated with how employees subsequently felt about their jobs," Cregan said in a media release on Wednesday.

"Many experienced higher levels of job satisfaction and lower levels of burnout, although others experienced the reverse."

Kalus said extensive research demonstrated that people seen to be attractive by others received a "beauty premium" in terms of factors related to job success such as income.

(APD)