Seattle Plastic Surgeon discusses the IKEA Effect.
It may be crooked but I love it because I built it.
The IKEA effect refers to the phenomenon of how we are apt to like or even love something that required a lot of work on our part even if that something is flawed.
Take this crooked chair. You would never buy this at a store but if you bought it at IKEA and did a lousy job of assembling it, you may very well be satisfied with it or even in love with it because it was the fruit of your labor.
So what does this have to do with plastic surgery? Quite a bit actually. It is very common for plastic surgeons to cling to a technique, procedure or device that they themselves developed even if something better comes along. Also, it can be difficult to accept that a patient is unhappy with a result that the surgeon really sweated over. We can sometimes deny that the result could have been better because we had to work so hard to get the result we did.
I recently saw a patient who had minor asymmetry after breast surgery and I really thought she should be thrilled with her result but she was not. I finally “gave in” and did a revision and now she is beyond thrilled and I am thrilled that she is thrilled. Looking back I see now that I had fallen victim to the IKEA Effect.
Thanks for reading and keep and open mind! Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder
@lisalynnsowder
