Effects of women's grooming behaviors and appearance satisfaction on interpersonal relationships

Abstract

The socio-cultural notion that appearance is something that can be created and managed, as opposed to something that is innate, has led to increased demands and expectations for appearance management. As the perception of appearance affects not only the oneself but also interpersonal relationships, increased satisfaction with one's appearance has the positive aspect of psychological stability, which leads to more active social participation. This study examined the effects of makeup and clothing adopted as appearance management behaviors and appearance satisfaction on interpersonal relationships, and analyzed the mediating effect of appearance management behaviors on interpersonal satisfaction through appearance satisfaction. The research method was a questionnaire, and 85 questionnaires were used in the final analysis. SPSS 28.0 and SmartPLS 4 were used to analyze the data. As a result of the analysis, it was found that among the women's appearance management behaviors, makeup has a defining effect on appearance satisfaction, and appearance satisfaction has a defining effect on interpersonal relationships. In addition, it was found that appearance satisfaction mediates the relationship between makeup and interpersonal relationships among appearance management behaviors. Although this study is limited in its generalizability to members of society as a whole because it was conducted on a sample of female college students in their 20s, it is significant in that it confirmed that practicing appearance management behaviors, reflecting the socio-cultural notion that appearance is created and managed, positively affects the formation of interpersonal relationships with psychologically stable members of society by making them confident in their appearance.

외모는 타고나는 것이 아니라 만들고 관리할 수 있는 것이라는 사회문화적 인식이 확산되면서 외모 관리에 대한 요구와 기대가 높아지고 있다. 외모에 대한 인식은 자신뿐만 아니라 대인관계에도 영향을 미치기 때문에 외모에 대한 만족도가 높아지면 심리적 안정감이 생겨 보다 적극적인 사회 참여로 이어지는 긍정적인 측면이 있다. 본 연구는 여성의 외모관리 행동으로 채택된 화장 및 의복과 외모만족도가 대인관계에 미치는 영향을 살펴보고, 외모만족도를 통해 외모관리 행동이 대인관계 만족도에 미치는 매개효과를 분석하였다. 연구방법은 설문조사로 진행되었으며, 최종 분석에는 85부의 설문지가 사용되었다. 데이터 분석에는 SPSS 28.0과 SmartPLS 4가 사용되었다. 분석 결과, 외모 관리 행동 중 화장은 외모 만족도에, 외모 만족도는 대인관계에 정의적 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 외모 만족도는 외모 관리 행동 중 메이크업과 대인관계의 관계를 매개하는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구는 20대 중심의 표본을 대상으로 진행되었기 때문에 사회 구성원 전체로 일반화하기에는 한계가 있지만, 외모관리 행동이 대인관계에 미치는 영향을 확인하였다는 점에서 의의가 있다.

I. Introduction

Unlike in the past when it was thought that ‘appearance is something you are born with,’ the social and cultural idea that it is created and managed is forming, and the demands and expectations for appearance management are increasing. Additionally, appearance management has a significant impact on interviews, employment, and social life. For modern people, appearance management has become a necessity rather than an option, and changes in environment and awareness due to the development of information and communication are expanding the scope of the desire for beauty regardless of gender and age [1].

First impressions are important in human relationships, and appearance is the main information that determines first impressions. Although interest in appearance increases during adolescence, adults invest time and money in managing their appearance because it affects not only their interactions with the opposite sex but also overall social activities such as employment and promotion [2][3].

People with a favorable appearance have high self-satisfaction, have active and positive thoughts in interpersonal relationships, and are confident in social life [4][5]. The more confident you are about your appearance, the higher your self-esteem, and since appearance appears as an evaluation of social ability, interest in appearance is increasing in order to be liked by others [6]. Self-esteem refers to the psychological state of giving value to oneself, wanting to be loved and recognized, and loving oneself. It can be said to be a positive or negative view of oneself and a feeling about one's existence from an emotional perspective. Appearance satisfaction not only satisfies one's external beauty, but also internal beauty, further increasing self-esteem, and increased self-esteem allows one to form smooth interpersonal relationships [5-7].

Interest in appearance refers to interest in cosmetics such as clothing and makeup to improve one's appearance. People seek to change their image through skin care, hair, makeup, and clothing, as well as plastic surgery. Since appearance is a process through which an individual performs a role and expresses himself while interacting with others, people actively manage their appearance to reduce the gap between their ideal body appearance and their actual appearance and increase satisfaction with their bodies [8-10].

Social pressure regarding appearance is a socialization factor that requires change and internalization of an individual's thoughts and behavior. Among these factors are family, friends, and the mass media, which exert social pressure to have a certain appearance by forming an individual's attitudes and behavior toward appearance and internalizing body standards. When people become aware of society's appearance standards, they internalize society's ideal appearance as their own value of beauty in order to gain a sense of belonging to society and groups. However, when you compare your own appearance with the ideal appearance and recognize the difference, you become dissatisfied with your physical appearance, and to resolve this dissatisfaction, you take interest in appearance management such as makeup, exercise, and fashion [11][12].

The steady growth of the appearance-related industry has resulted in the world, including Korea, becoming highly aware of the interest and value in appearance, and is showing great interest in various appearance management behaviors to make individuals look attractive.

Appearance is one of the factors that affect interpersonal relationships, and these days, there is a lot of interest in maintaining a satisfactory appearance regardless of gender or age. Since the perception of one's appearance affects not only one's self but also one's interpersonal relationships, there is a positive aspect that when satisfaction with one's appearance increases, one becomes psychologically stable and can participate more actively in society.

This study examined the impact of appearance management behavior and appearance satisfaction on interpersonal relationships. In particular, we studied whether appearance satisfaction mediates appearance management behavior and interpersonal relationships. Empirical analysis was conducted using a survey method targeting women, and data was analyzed using SmartPLS 4 to verify the mediating effect of appearance satisfaction. Through this study, we aim to help improve women's interpersonal skills by deriving factors that affect interpersonal relationships among appearance management behaviors.

II. Formar research and hypothese

Appearance management can be defined as the process through which each individual expresses his or her individuality by playing his or her role through interactions with others. Individuals can increase their body satisfaction through appearance management behavior to evaluate their body and overcome the difference between their ideal body shape and themselves [9]. Appearance management behavior is the act of presenting one's appearance to others. It is the act of using various tools to appear as intended, that is, the behavior of managing through tools such as clothing, cosmetics, accessories, props, and body shape management, and refers to all efforts to create a better version of oneself [13].

Appearance management behavior refers to the use of various tools to make oneself appear as intended when presenting oneself to others, that is, the behavior of managing oneself through tools such as clothing, cosmetics, accessories, props, and body shape management, and helps to look better. It refers to all efforts to create. Through appearance management behavior, feelings such as a person's work ability and amicable interpersonal relationships are connected to positive evaluations and influence each other, so it can be said to be a way to inform and express oneself to others in social life.

Appearance satisfaction is one of the subconcepts of body image satisfaction, and is often perceived through subjective judgment, so people perceive satisfaction with their appearance by comparing themselves with others. Appearance satisfaction is a positive attitude of perception in which one's body image is expressed externally and one's body image is expressed externally, making a good impression and being recognized more positively by others as an attractive appearance [14]. It refers to the degree of satisfaction with each part of the body, including body shape, function and style, and the degree to which one feels satisfied or dissatisfied with one's appearance [15].

Self-esteem is an important factor in individual adaptation, healthy personality development, and self-actualization, and has a wide impact on human behavior, emotions, motivation, achievement, and human relationships. It is an evaluation that an individual makes about himself, expressing his positive and negative attitude toward photography and the extent to which he believes himself to be competent, important, successful, and valuable. In other words, it can be said to be a judgment of one's own value that is expressed in an individual's attitude toward oneself.

Interpersonal relationships are often used interchangeably with human relationships, but they have different meanings. Human relationships refer to all aspects of psychological relationships between humans, and interpersonal relationships focus more on small numbers, especially one-on-one relationships between two people, in terms of the universal psychological orientation of individuals toward others. It is distinguished from human relationships [16]. Therefore, interpersonal relationships can be seen as an individual's adaptive ability to establish, maintain, and develop healthy and intimate relationships through interactions with others based on understanding and acceptance of oneself and others.

Appearance management behavior refers to the behavior of taking care of one's appearance through tools such as clothing, cosmetics, accessories, props, and body shape management. It is the result of social pressure on one's appearance that demands changes in individual behavior and social internalization, and is considered ideal. In order to reduce the difference between the appearance of one's body and one's actual appearance, it is assumed that satisfaction with one's body is improved through active appearance management behavior [9][15]. In this study, we set up the hypothesis that appearance management activities centered on fashion through makeup and clothing purchases, which are the most commonly performed among appearance management activities, have a positive impact on appearance satisfaction.

H1: Among appearance management activities, makeup will have a positive (+) effect on appearance satisfaction.

H2: Participation in appearance management activities will have a positive (+) effect on satisfaction with appearance.

Appearance satisfaction can be defined as the difference between satisfaction and dissatisfaction with one's physical appearance, but appearance satisfaction also refers to one's perception of one's social competitiveness as well as one's external appearance [17]. In other words, appearance satisfaction is judged subjectively by an individual based on what he or she thinks is the best external beauty, or considers the evaluation of others to be important [18]. The higher the level of satisfaction with appearance, the more active college students become in interpersonal relationships [19]. Recently, the value of appearance has been highly evaluated, and in research on adolescents, simple interest in appearance does not affect interpersonal relationships, but appearance satisfaction does not affect interpersonal relationships. It was found to be closely related to interpersonal relationships [20].

Therefore, the value of appearance is highly valued, and the hypothesis was established that satisfaction with appearance affects self-esteem, and that if people are confident and satisfied with their appearance, they will be more active in interpersonal relationships and have a positive effect on interpersonal relationships.

In addition, although appearance management activities will have a positive effect on interpersonal relationships, the mediating effect of appearance satisfaction was hypothesized to increase satisfaction with appearance, which will have a positive effect on interpersonal relationships.

H3: Satisfaction with appearance will have a positive effect on interpersonal relationships.

H4: Appearance satisfaction will mediate appearance management activities and interpersonal relationships.

Fig. 1. System Architecture

III. Research Methods

In this study, women who were interested in appearance management activities were targeted to measure whether appearance management activities affect confidence in appearance and interpersonal relationships. A self-administered survey was conducted from May 12 to May 20, 2023. The number of questionnaires collected was 86, and 85 questionnaires, excluding those without consent to personal information, were used in the final analysis. Factor analysis and correlation analysis were performed using the SPSS 28.0 program, and SmartPLS 4.0 was used for causal analysis. All questions except for the general characteristics of the research subject used a 5-point Likert scale.

There are 4 married people (4.7%), but 81 people are single. There are 5 people in their 30s and 50s or older, but 80 people are in their 20s. Regarding school records, 9.4% graduated from high school, 8.2% graduated from junior college, 52 people graduated from college (68.2%), and 14.1% graduated from graduate school.

Table 1. Demographic and Sociological Analysis

The appearance management behavior survey questions used were the questionnaire used in the study by Chae-yeon Han et al. (2021), modified and supplemented to suit this study. In the investigation of this study, makeup and dress were used separately. The survey questions regarding satisfaction with appearance were measured using confidence in appearance from the questionnaire used in the study by Seonjeong Moon et al. (2019). The survey on interpersonal relationships used 5 questions on communication and satisfaction from the survey used in the study by Chae-yeon Han et al. (2021).

IV. Results

Exploratory factor analysis was conducted using SPSS 28.0. To measure four variables, 19 measurement items were measured on a 5-point scale, and as a result of factor analysis of the measurement items, 1 measurement item from clothing and 2 measurement items from interpersonal relationships were excluded due to low factor loading, leaving 17 measurement items. was derived, and the factorial integration value was over 0.6, and the Cronbach's alpha value was 0.719~0.913, which was found to have high internal consistency. Discriminant validity was verified through correlation analysis between each measurement concept. As shown in [Table 2], each measurement concept was found to have discriminant validity.

Table 2. Questionnaires

Table 3. Factor Analysis

Table 4. Correlation Analysis

* p < .1, ** p < .05, *** p < .01

After determining the suitability of the research model, a bootstrapping method was conducted using SmartPLS to confirm the proposed hypothesis: the path between appearance management behaviors such as makeup and clothing, appearance satisfaction, and interpersonal relationships. The results of parameter estimation through a total of 5,000 resampling processes are presented in [Fig. 2]. In [Fig. 2], only hypotheses 1 and 3 were adopted as direct effect path coefficients between variables, excluding hypothesis 2. In other words, makeup had a positive effect on satisfaction with appearance (=0.257), and satisfaction with appearance also had a positive effect on interpersonal relationships (=0.418). On the other hand, clothing, another appearance management activity, was found to have no significant effect on appearance satisfaction.

Fig. 2. Research Findings

Through the indirect effect coefficient, we can examine whether appearance satisfaction mediates appearance management behavior and interpersonal relationships. Among appearance management behaviors, the indirect effect between makeup and interpersonal relationships is =-0.096 (p＜.1), and the total effect is =-0.290 (p＜.05). In other words, at a statistical significance level of 0.1, it can be confirmed that makeup affects interpersonal relationships by mediating appearance satisfaction (makeup → appearance satisfaction → interpersonal relationships). Therefore, it can be said that Hypothesis 4, the main hypothesis of this study, is supported at a weak significance level. On the other hand, among appearance management behaviors, the mediating effect of clothing was found to be statistically insignificant, as in the previous direct effect path analysis.

Table 5. Results of Dirrect and Indirect Effect Analysis

* p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .01

V. Conclusion

This study examined the impact of appearance management behavior and appearance satisfaction on interpersonal relationships. The research method used was a questionnaire method, and 85 questionnaires were used in the final analysis. Data were analyzed using SPSS 28.0 and SmartPLS 4. The research results are summarized as follows.

First, among appearance management behaviors, clothing was found to have no significant effect on appearance satisfaction, and only makeup had a positive effect on appearance satisfaction. In the case of a woman, it can be inferred that she is satisfied with her appearance by making up for her shortcomings through makeup. In addition, it was confirmed that among appearance management activities, clothing was not significant, and only makeup was significant. This was found to be different from existing studies that found clothing to be significant among appearance management activities [21]. However, makeup is not related to clothing. This can be interpreted as a result of the fact that it is easier to take care of one's appearance by investing time because the economic investment is less and the makeup tools are secured. In addition, while men are highly interested in physical appearance, women are highly interested in appearance management such as fashion, makeup, clothing, and body care to change their image in the age of appearanceism, and to improve social life and their own lives qualitatively. This can be seen as a result of improving [22].

Second, satisfaction with appearance has a positive impact on interpersonal relationships. Appearance satisfaction is a way to increase self-esteem as the degree of satisfaction with each part of the body, including external appearance, such as an individual's body type and style, and can be seen to have a direct impact on interpersonal relationships. This supports existing research, and it can be said that the more satisfied one is with one's appearance, the more confident one is in meeting others and seeking to continue relationships, thus improving interpersonal relationships [19]. In other words, it can be inferred that appearance is more important in interpersonal relationships because it is related to impression.

Lastly, it was confirmed that personal appearance satisfaction partially mediates appearance management behavior and interpersonal relationships. In other words, among the makeup and clothing measured as appearance management behavior in this study, makeup was confirmed to partially mediate. This supports the existing research on adolescents that shows that interest in appearance and appearance management behavior affects interpersonal relationships through appearance satisfaction [20]. Because of this, we are concerned about appearance. It can be assumed that satisfaction may have an indirect effect mediating appearance management activities and interpersonal relationships.

This study has limitations in the composition and number of samples. As the sample consists mainly of college students in their 20s and is comprised of women, there are limits to generalization. Therefore, it is desirable to limit the interpretation to appearance management activities centered on female students in their 20s. However, despite these limitations, this study has the significance of empirically showing that appearance management activities centered on young women can lead to active interpersonal relationships through appearance satisfaction. In particular, it was verified that appearance management behavior does not simply affect interpersonal relationships, but is promoted through appearance satisfaction. In the case of women, it is meaningful in that it suggests that clothing is ineffective and appearance management behavior such as makeup is important.

Accordingly, in follow-up studies, it is necessary to expand the sample and study the relationship between appearance satisfaction and interpersonal relationships by subdividing the subjects and adding self-esteem, etc., as in studies comparing regions and men and women. In addition, it should be possible to provide effective data for the marketing strategy of the appearance care industry by providing information related to various and specific appearance management behaviors such as skin care and plastic surgery behaviors in addition to clothing and makeup behaviors.