Contemporary Koreans' Perceptions of Facial Beauty

BACKGROUND: This article aims to investigate current perceptions of beauty of the general public and physicians without a specialization in plastic surgery performing aesthetic procedures. METHODS: A cross-sectional and interviewing questionnaire was administered to 290 people in Seoul, South Korea in September 2015. The questionnaire addressed three issues: general attitudes about plastic surgery (Q1), perception of and preferences regarding Korean female celebrities’ facial attractiveness (Q2), and the relative influence of each facial aesthetic subunit on overall facial attractiveness. The survey’s results were gathered by a professional research agency and classified according to a respondent’s gender, age, and job type (95%±5.75% confidence interval). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS ver. 10.1, calculating one-way analysis of variance with post hoc analysis and Tukey's t-test. RESULTS: Among the respondents, 38.3% were in favor of aesthetic plastic surgery. The most common source of plastic surgery information was the internet (50.0%). The most powerful factor influencing hospital or clinic selection was the postoperative surgical results of acquaintances (74.9%). We created a composite face of an attractive Korean female, representing the current facial configuration considered appealing to the Koreans. Beauty perceptions differed to some degree based on gender and generational differences. We found that there were certain differences in beauty perceptions between general physicians who perform aesthetic procedures and the general public. CONCLUSIONS: Our study results provide aesthetic plastic surgeons with detailed information about contemporary Korean people’s attitudes toward and perceptions of plastic surgery and the specific characteristics of female Korean faces currently considered attractive, plus trends in these perceptions, which should inform plastic surgeons within their specialized fields.

Contemporary Koreans' Perceptions of Facial Beauty

BACKGROUND: This article aims to investigate current perceptions of beauty of the general public and physicians without a specialization in plastic surgery performing aesthetic procedures. METHODS: A cross-sectional and interviewing questionnaire was administered to 290 people in Seoul, South Korea in September 2015. The questionnaire addressed three issues: general attitudes about plastic surgery (Q1), perception of and preferences regarding Korean female celebrities’ facial attractiveness (Q2), and the relative influence of each facial aesthetic subunit on overall facial attractiveness. The survey’s results were gathered by a professional research agency and classified according to a respondent’s gender, age, and job type (95%±5.75% confidence interval). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS ver. 10.1, calculating one-way analysis of variance with post hoc analysis and Tukey's t-test. RESULTS: Among the respondents, 38.3% were in favor of aesthetic plastic surgery. The most common source of plastic surgery information was the internet (50.0%). The most powerful factor influencing hospital or clinic selection was the postoperative surgical results of acquaintances (74.9%). We created a composite face of an attractive Korean female, representing the current facial configuration considered appealing to the Koreans. Beauty perceptions differed to some degree based on gender and generational differences. We found that there were certain differences in beauty perceptions between general physicians who perform aesthetic procedures and the general public. CONCLUSIONS: Our study results provide aesthetic plastic surgeons with detailed information about contemporary Korean people’s attitudes toward and perceptions of plastic surgery and the specific characteristics of female Korean faces currently considered attractive, plus trends in these perceptions, which should inform plastic surgeons within their specialized fields.

Different Perceptions of Facial Attractiveness According to Race and Gender

There have been few studies investigating the differences in the perception of facial attractiveness according to gender, races and ethnicity. This study was conducted to determine whether different races or genders show actual differences in the perception of beauty. Using 5 composite faces of different races, this survey was designed on 486 participants from different races and ethnicities. Photographs of the composite faces were displayed on a large poster at Incheon International Airport and passersby were asked to take part in the survey regarding which composite face was the most attractive. Data were statistically analyzed to determine differences in beauty perception in terms of gender, race and ethnicity. There were significant differences in the perception of the most attractive face and the least attractive face according to gender. There were significant differences in the perception of the most and least attractive face according to race. Multivariate analysis also revealed that there were different perceptions of facial attractiveness according to ethnic backgrounds. The results of this study suggest that the perception of facial attractiveness may differ according to gender, race and ethnicity, and that some unique or peculiar patterns of beauty perception may exist.

A Preliminary Study on the Classification of Visiting Nursing Service Recipients and the Development of Standardized Visiting Nursing Service Pathways Based on Public Health Center

PURPOSE: The purpose of this research is to develop and classify district visiting nursing standards and to standardize visiting nursing service pathways. METHOD: This research was conducted as a focus group study and analyzed visiting nursing records. We surveyed 201 recipients at urban health centers, who were selected through convenient sampling, from April 2003 to November 2003. RESULT: First, visiting nursing service recipients were classified into four groups according to household and financial characteristics, existence of disease, ability of self-care, and existence of home care service needs. Standardized pathways of the selected items were assessment. nursing care plan, disease management and promotion of self-care ability for Level I (mean=12.2 visits). For Level II (7.3 visits) were offered assessment. disease management. health education. and health promotion services. For Level III (5.2 visits) were offered assessment. disease management. health education and health promotion services, and for Level IV (2.7 visits) were offered thorough assessment, education for self-care and health promotion. CONCLUSION: The visiting nursing service pathways identified in this research need to be developed further as basic materials applicable to quality assurance and agency evaluation. For this, we suggest repeated research and test to apply the derived standardized visiting nursing services pathways in visiting nursing programs.

An Analysis of Frontal Photographs Using "Balanced and Proportional Measurement"

In the morphologic study on the face, it is very important fact that one must analyze not only anomalous structures but also proportional problems of face. Authors analyzed photographs in frontal views of Korean and Western famous female entertainers, which was secondary and supplementary analysis after "BAPA (Balanced Angular Profile Analysis)" This was also a preliminary study for developing a new computerized program of facial analysis. Authors extracted 56 famous female entertainers' photographs (30 Koreans, 26 Westerns) from Internet websites. When performing sampling procedures, authors made strict criteria for selection of photographs in frontal view. We executed 20 proportional measures and 4 angular measures for the analysis. Statistical analysis using SAS program (Version 8.1. USA), was performed. Data from each group(Korean versus Western) were presented to show the means, ranges, P and F values, and standard deviations of each measurement. In addition, the Student t-test(with significance level set to P=0.05) was performed to compare the two groups. Significant between-group proportional differences(P<0.05) were found for middle face height, brow height, interpupil width, eye fissure width, nasal height, interala width, upper lip height, and mandible height but no significant racial differences were found in terms of several proportions and all of the angular measures. If automated computer program is developed based on our data, we can use our data for useful tools for the first consultation process, and suggest that appropriate and harmonious aesthetic operations should be considered reflecting these differences.