Makeup usage has been linked to both low and high self-esteem in previous research. While women with low self-esteem may use it to cover up insecurities, women with high self-esteem may use it to attract attention. A study published in PLOS One explores the relationship between makeup usage and self-esteem further.
Women generally spend a lot of time on their appearances between makeup, hair, and clothing. This is partially due to the pressure society puts on women’s appearances. Attractiveness is an emphasized and valued quality in women and being attractive is linked to higher self-esteem.
Researcher Anthonieta Looman Mafra and her colleagues used a sample of 1,483 Brazilian women between 18 and 75 years of age. Participants completed measures through Qualtrics, including demographics, cosmetic use inventory, general self-esteem questionnaire, social self-esteem questionnaire, and a body image scale.
General self-esteem refers to how a person feels about themselves, while social self-esteem is how a person feels about themselves in social interactions. Social comparison can have a negative impact on general self-esteem.
“Whereas general self-esteem reflects how a person feels about themselves and their value in comparison to others, social self-esteem is how individuals feel about themselves during social interactions with others, and how those interactions affect their social value. In this way, social self-esteem is more affected by social interactions than general self-esteem,” the researchers explained.
Results showed almost half of participants spent less than 5 minutes a day on makeup. Participants with higher general self-esteem spent less money on makeup, while participants with higher social self-esteem spent more money on makeup. Participants who were more appearance oriented used makeup more often and spent more time on it.
“Overall, our study suggested that women with greater self-esteem associated with social interactions would attribute higher importance to their appearance, resulting in more makeup usage,” the researchers said.
Appearance orientation is associated with negative outcomes such as neuroticism and eating disorders, but makeup usage may bolster women’s confidence, which could be a positive outcome.
This study took steps into understanding the nuances surrounding the relationship between self-esteem and makeup usage. Despite this, it still has limitations. One such limitation is that this study is cross-sectional, so causality cannot be assessed. Follow up studies could employ an experimental design. Additionally, this study utilized only Brazilian women who were mainly Caucasian, which does not adequately represent the Brazilian population. Further research should utilize a more diverse sample.
The study, “The contrasting effects of body image and self-esteem in the makeup usage“, was authored by Anthonieta Looman Mafra, Caio S. A. Silva, Marco A. C. Varella, and Jaroslava V. Valentova.