Tattoos and social perception: is the stigmatization of tattoos warranted? An empirical study

Abstract

The current study seeks to understand how the presence of tattoos affects social perception and to identify the observable differences in traits between individuals who have tattoos and individuals who do not have tattoos to explore the accuracy of these perceived differences. Participants (N=308) were presented with a stimuli photograph of a male or a female who did or did not have tattoos before being asked to rate that individual on a set of 11 traits. Contrary to original hypotheses, the study found that the target stimuli with tattoos was not rated significantly different on a set of 11 traits than was the stimuli without tattoos, regardless of gender of target stimuli and participant tattoos. Participants also filled out multiple individual-difference measures as well as a set of demographic questions. Results revealed that generally, tattooed participants did not score significantly differently than did non-tattooed participants on individual-difference measures including the Light Triad, the Dark Triad, the Big Five Personality Traits, and a measure of Honesty/Humility. It is worth noting that findings did reveal two significant differences between tattooed and non-tattooed participants; tattooed participants scored significantly higher on a measure of psychopathy than did non-tattooed participants and non-tattooed participants scored significantly higher on a measure of emotional stability than did tattooed participants. Although the data did not support the majority of the original hypotheses, the findings reveal a decrease in the negative effect of tattoos on social perception and allude to a societal shift in the opinion on tattoos that is worth further exploration.