Percentage dat later spijt heeft van elke keuze. De balken en het volledige overzicht staan hieronder.
Gezondheid
Laatst beoordeeld 2026-04-26
Kwaliteit van bewijs 3.75/5
Beoordelingsscore op acht dimensies volgens de
kwaliteitsrubriek
. Elke dimensie krijgt een score van 1 tot 5.
D1 Bronverificatie
4/5
D2 Autoriteit en onafhankelijkheid van bronnen
4/5
D3 Nauwkeurigheid van spijtcijfer
1/5
D4 Vergelijkbaarheid van bronnen
2/5
D5 Gilovich-patroon
5/5
D6 Prozakwaliteit
5/5
D7 Volledigheid van voorbehouden
5/5
D8 Steekproefkwaliteit
4/5
Gemiddelde3.75/5
Proxygegevens — er bestaat geen directe spijtenquête voor deze beslissing. De percentages zijn afgeleid van tevredenheidsscores en toegangsdrempelgegevens in plaats van vragen die direct naar spijt vroegen. Zie opmerkingen hieronder.
Spijt van handelen
Wel cosmetische chirurgie ondergaan
10%
~10% betreurt de procedure (bereik 5-33% per type)
A 2024 American Journal of Surgery
systematic review places cosmetic surgery regret at
roughly 5—33% depending on procedure type: breast augmentation sits at
the low end (5—9%), body contouring at the high end (11—33%). That
review does not compute a single cross-procedure average, so we estimate ~10%
as a conservative editorial estimate near the lower-middle of that range
for elective cosmetic procedures, not a computed midpoint. A companion
2023 PMC narrative summary of the decision-regret literature does not add
its own numeric range but corroborates which factors drive regret (see
below); the AJS review itself reports rates only. On the inaction side, no large-sample survey directly measures regret about not
having cosmetic surgery. General body-dissatisfaction data (37% of
Americans per Ipsos) and cosmetic-consideration rates (70% per ASDS)
suggest that a non-trivial minority of non-patients harbor lasting
appearance dissatisfaction, but the 7% inaction figure is a ceiling
proxy — the Ipsos-reported share who say they would be willing to
undergo cosmetic surgery to achieve their ideal body — not a measured
regret rate or a survey finding about regret.
The pattern runs counter to the classic Gilovich finding. For most life
decisions, inaction regret dominates over time: people regret the degree not
pursued, the trip not taken, the relationship not attempted. Cosmetic surgery
inverts this because the action is irreversible, physically invasive, and
financially costly. A rhinoplasty that narrows the bridge too aggressively
cannot be fully undone; a breast augmentation that causes capsular contracture
is a daily reminder. The 2023 PMC review of the decision-regret literature
(not the 2024 AJS review, which reports rates only) identifies inadequate
preoperative education, limited use of decisional tools, and postoperative
complications as the strongest predictors of regret — suggesting that the
action-regret rate is substantially reducible through better screening and
counseling.
The main caveat is the asymmetry of evidence. The action side has genuine
peer-reviewed systematic reviews with procedure-specific breakdowns. The
inaction side has essentially nothing: body dissatisfaction surveys measure a
different construct, and ASDS consideration rates conflate casual curiosity
with genuine surgical intent. The 7% inaction figure used here is a ceiling
proxy — willingness to undergo cosmetic surgery, not a measured regret rate.
If a rigorous survey ever asks a representative sample of non-patients “Do
you regret not having cosmetic surgery?”, the true figure could be higher or
lower — and the direction of the Gilovich pattern could flip. Until then,
the delta (0.03) should be read as roughly balanced with a slight tilt
toward action regret, not as a precise quantitative claim.
Bronnen: handelen
Bronnenverantwoording
Elk getal hieronder is wat elke bron rapporteerde, met het letterlijke citaat waarop we ons baseerden en hoe we tot ons cijfer kwamen. Klik op een link om rechtstreeks te verifiëren.
[1]The American Journal of Surgery — A systematic review of patient regret after surgery↗ 1 other entry
Vakgenoten-beoordeeld
Regret after elective plastic surgery ranges from 5–33%; breast augmentation 5.1–9.1%, body contouring 10.82–33.3%
Fragment
“"Regret after elective plastic surgery operations is significantly higher compared to gender-affirming surgery. The percentage of patients reporting regret ranged from 0 to 47.1% in breast reconstruction, 5.1–9.1% in breast augmentation, and 10.82–33.3% in body contouring."
”
Brongegevens van
2024-04-30
Geraadpleegd
2026-07-07
Berekening
2024 AJS systematic review of patient regret across surgical subspecialties. Reported ranges for cosmetic procedures: breast augmentation 5.1–9.1%, body contouring 10.82–33.3%. The review provides the most comprehensive cross-specialty data but does not compute a weighted average across procedures. We use ~10% as a conservative editorial estimate sitting at the lower-middle of the cosmetic (non-reconstructive) range — not a computed midpoint — acknowledging the enormous variance by procedure type. This review reports regret rates only and does not analyze predictors or drivers of regret; the predictor finding below (preoperative education, decisional tools, postoperative complications) comes from the companion PMC 2023 source only, not from this review.
[2]Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery – Global Open — Decision Regret in Plastic Surgery: A Summary
Vakgenoten-beoordeeld
Qualitative summary of decision-regret literature; preoperative education, decisional tools, and postoperative complications are the strongest predictors
Fragment
“"After review of the literature, preoperative education, decisional tools, and postoperative complications were found to be the most important factors affecting decision regret after surgery."
”
Brongegevens van
2023-06-01
Geraadpleegd
2026-07-07
Berekening
PMC 2023 narrative summary of the decision-regret literature in plastic surgery (Jones, Cruz, Stewart, Losken; PRS Global Open). It does not report a single aggregate cosmetic regret rate; instead it identifies preoperative education, decisional tools, and postoperative complications as the strongest predictors of regret. The formal literature it draws on concentrates on breast reconstruction and gender-reaffirming procedures rather than aesthetic surgery. Used as a corroborating source on regret drivers, not for the numeric rate.
Bronnen: niet handelen
Bronnenverantwoording
Elk getal hieronder is wat elke bron rapporteerde, met het letterlijke citaat waarop we ons baseerden en hoe we tot ons cijfer kwamen. Klik op een link om rechtstreeks te verifiëren.
[1]Ipsos — Most Americans Experience Feeling Dissatisfied with How Their Body Looks from Time to Time↗ 2 other entries
Primaire studie
7% of Americans say they would be willing to undergo cosmetic surgery to achieve their ideal body; 37% feel dissatisfied with their body whenever they look in the mirror
Fragment
“"Americans are not as willing to undergo cosmetic surgery (7%), consume laxatives (4%), and/or purge/throw-up after eating (1%)."
”
Brongegevens van
2018-01-10
Geraadpleegd
2026-07-07
Berekening
Ipsos survey of 1,004 US adults (Jan 3–5, 2018). No published survey directly asks non-patients whether they regret not having cosmetic surgery, so no true inaction-regret figure exists. Rather than invent a downward adjustment, this entry uses the survey's own directly-reported 7% figure: the share of respondents who said they would be willing to undergo cosmetic surgery to achieve their ideal body (grouped by Ipsos among the least-chosen extreme measures, alongside laxative use and purging), used as a ceiling/context proxy. It bounds the population plausibly dissatisfied enough with their appearance to entertain surgery, and so plausibly able to feel inaction regret, versus the much broader 37% general mirror-dissatisfaction figure, which includes many people who would never consider surgery specifically. This is explicitly a willingness proxy, not a measured regret rate, and should be read as an order-of-magnitude ceiling, not a finding.
70% of Americans are considering a cosmetic dermatologic procedure
Fragment
“"Seventy percent of Americans are considering a cosmetic dermatologic procedure."
”
Brongegevens van
2025-03-01
Geraadpleegd
2026-07-07
Berekening
ASDS annual consumer survey. The 70% consideration rate is inflated by including minimally invasive treatments (Botox, fillers) alongside surgical procedures, and reflects loose interest rather than intent to act. No published survey directly measures inaction regret; this source is retained as corroborating context on the gap between broad "considering" figures and genuine willingness, not as the basis for the 7% proxy (see the Ipsos source above and caveats below).
Kanttekeningen
De actie- en inactiecijfers zijn niet symmetrisch in methodologie of rigor. De ~10% actie-spijt-schatting is afgeleid van twee systematische reviews (PMC 2023, AJS 2024) die procedure-specifieke bereiken rapporteren (borstvergroting 5-9%, lichaamscontouring 11-33%), maar geen enkel geaggregeerd cijfer. Geen van de reviews berekent een gewogen gemiddelde over cosmetische procedures, dus de 10% is een redactionele schatting die in het midden-onder van het waargenomen bereik zit. De 5% aan de inactiezijde is een plaatshouder-proxy — geen grootschalige enquête vraagt direct aan niet-patiënten of ze spijt hebben geen cosmetische chirurgie te hebben gehad. Het Ipsos lichaams-ontevredenheid-percentage (37%) is veel te breed, en het ASDS-overwegings-percentage (70%) weerspiegelt losse interesse, geen spijt. De 5% moet worden behandeld als een orde-van-grootte-plaatshouder-proxy, geen bevinding. Omdat beide zijden substantiële onzekerheid dragen, moet de delta (0,05) worden gelezen als "ongeveer in balans met een lichte neiging naar actie-spijt" in plaats van een nauwkeurige kwantitatieve claim. Cosmetische chirurgie is een tegenvoorbeeld van Gilovich en Medvec's typische inactie-dominantie-bevinding: de onomkeerbaarheid, het fysieke litteken-risico en de financiële kosten van de procedure ondersteunen actie-spijt op een manier die afgezien-electieve-chirurgie niet doet.
