COSMETICS, SELF-ESTEEM, AND ATTRACTIVENESS 51 (69.5%), having a university level of education (73.5%), with a monthly income less than 1,000 USD (70.9%) and of Muslim religion (82%). BIVARIATE ANALYSIS A signifi cantly higher mean customary cosmetic usage total score was found in those with a secondary level of education (28.31) than in those with other educational levels, in high-income persons (29.35) than in those with other income levels, and in Christian women (31.44) than in those from other religions. In addition, higher AE score and AO score were signifi cantly associated with higher total cosmetic usage scores (r = 0.134 and r = 0.510), respectively. A higher self-esteem score was signifi cantly associated with lower cosmetic usage total score (r = -0.047) (Table II). MULTIVARIABLE ANALYSIS The results of a linear regression, taking the customary cosmetic usage score as the depen- dent variable, showed that a higher AO score = 0.55), an intermediate = 0.99), and a high socioeconomic status = 2.18) were signifi cantly associated with higher custom- ary cosmetic usage total scores. A higher self-esteem score = -0.21) and being of Mus- lim religion compared with Christianity = -1.39) were signifi cantly associated with a lower customary cosmetic usage total score (Table III). Table I S ociodemographic Characteristics of the Study Population Count Marital status Single 1,415 (69.5%) Married 523 (25.7%) Widowed 32 (1.6%) Divorced 67 (3.3%) Education level Illiterate 35 (1.7%) Primary 55 (2.7%) Complementary 152 (7.6%) Secondary 291 (14.5%) University 1,477 (73.5%) Socioeconomic status 1,000 $ 1,392 (70.9%) 1,000–2,000 $ 442 (22.5%) 2,000 $ 130 (6.6%) Ideology Christian 205 (11.1%) Muslim 1,522 (82.0%) Druze 95 (5.1%) Others 33 (1.8%) Age (years) 24.84 ± 9.75
JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE 52 DISCUSSION The fi ndings of our study concerning a representative sample of women among the Leba- nese population clearly showed that the cosmetic products usage is lower with a high self-esteem and being Muslim. By contrast, the greater the level of AO, the higher the socioeconomic status and the higher the total consumption of makeup. Commonly, the self-esteem of a woman is measured by the way she evaluates her appear- ance and accepts her self-perceived image (24). Our results showed that a high self-esteem was correlated with lower makeup use. This result might be explained by greater conve- nience in internal values or self-improvement/achievements than changes in external ap- pearance. In this sense, the study by Kim and Park (25) showed that people with negative self-esteem seek happiness through impulsive purchases of cosmetics. In fact, negative self-esteem can lead to self-denial, discontent, and high dependence on the judgment of others, leading to excessive use of cosmetics for the purpose of fi lling a feeling of inferior- ity and, therefore, to please others (26). Therefore, negative self-esteem seeks pleasure through makeup and the desire to turn negative emotions such as feelings of inferiority and depression into positive emotions. Moreover, this study’s results demonstrated that the AO was correlated with higher cus- tomary cosmetic usage, in line with previous fi ndings (27). It has been hypothesized that women with attractive faces place greater emphasis on their appearance than do their less attractive counterparts, but only at relatively low levels of self-oriented perfectionism. Table II Bivariate Analysis Taking the Customary Cosmetic Usage Total Score as the Dependent Variable Cosmetic score p-value Mean ± SD Marital status Single 27.65 ± 7.31 0.605 Married 27.85 ± 7.35 Education level Illiterate 26.25 ± 9.99 0.001 Primary 25.36 ± 7.49 Complementary 26.15 ± 7.45 Secondary 28.31 ± 7.35 University 25.82 ± 7.17 Ideology Christian 31.44 ± 6.72 0.001 Muslim 27.09 ± 7.41 Druze 28.35 ± 6.49 Others 29.68 ± 7.43 Socioeconomic status 1,000 $ 27.21 ± 7.42 0.001 1,000–2,000 $ 28.77 ± 6.97 2,000 $ 29.35 ± 7.84 Correlation coeffi cient p-value AE score (MBSRQ subscale) 0.134 0.001 AO score (MBSRQ subscale) 0.510 0.001 Rosenberg self-esteem score -0.047 0.032 Numbers in bold indicate signifi cant p-values.
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