Impact of Middle-aged Women’s Appearance Management Behavior on Their Psychological Happiness

This study selected a population residing in the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas to investigate the impact of the appearance management behavior of middle-aged women in their 40s to 50s on psychological happiness and collected data from the panel of a professional research company through a convenience sampling method. As for the survey period, a self- administered survey was conducted from January 15, 2023 through January 20, 2023, and a total of 324 copies were used in the final analysis. As a result of an analysis, four components of appearance management behavior were drawn: hair management behavior, body shape management behavior, skincare behavior, and clothing management behavior. Four components of psychological happiness were drawn: competence, a feeling of self-realization, a feeling of immersion, and hedonic enjoyment. In the relationship of the impacts of the components of appearance management behavior on psychological happiness, it turned out that hair management behavior affected the feeling of immersion and hedonic enjoyment. It turned out that body shape management behavior affected competence and the feeling of self-realization while skincare behavior affected competence, the feeling of immersion, and hedonic enjoyment. It turned out that clothing management behavior affected hedonic enjoyment only. An implication was drawn through this study that middle-aged women recognized appearance as a means of expressing their inner side or ability and could promote happiness, changing inner emotions positively through various appearance management behaviors.