Women's acceptance of cosmetic surgery across the menstrual cycle

•We explored whether menstrual cycle phase impacts feelings toward cosmetic surgery.•Cosmetic surgery acceptance was higher in the luteal versus late-follicular phase.•Findings may reflect intolerance of dishonest attractiveness-enhancing procedures.•Appearance-contingent self-worth positively predicts approval of cosmetic surgery.•Self-worth reliant on virtuousness negatively predicts cosmetic surgery approval.

Women compete to attract mates through self-promotion of their physical characteristics, and this is most pronounced in the fertile late-follicular phase of their menstrual cycles. Thus, we hypothesized that women in the late-follicular phase would report greater acceptance of cosmetic surgery than women in the non-fertile mid-luteal phase. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found a marginally significant effect whereby acceptance of cosmetic surgery was higher in the luteal phase compared to the late-follicular phase when controlling for self-esteem. Lower acceptance of cosmetic surgery at peak fertility may reflect women's intolerance of artificial (i.e., dishonest) attractiveness-enhancing procedures when mating opportunities are most critical, but further research is needed. Additionally, women's general approval of cosmetic surgery was positively predicted by their reported appearance-contingent self-worth and negatively predicted by self-worth contingent on being a virtuous person. This suggests that the greater the virtue individuals believe themselves to possess, the more readily they ascribe judgment to others.