Ink

With tattoos everywhere you look, from David Beckham's Jesus image to the one under your lover's shirt, it seems having a little ink is a pretty mainstream thing. But a paper just published in The Social Science Journal suggests a relationship between body art and deviant behavior for people who tend to go over the top.

And the scientists from Texas Tech University say deviance is measured by how many tattoos a person has. "Results indicate that respondents with four or more tattoos, seven or more body piercings, or piercings located in their nipples or genitals, were substantively and significantly more likely to report regular marijuana use, occasional use of other illegal drugs, and a history of being arrested for a crime," according to the research. "Less pronounced, but still significant in many cases, was an increased propensity for those with higher incidence of body art to cheat on college work, binge drink, and report having had multiple sex partners in the course of their lifetime."

Scientists surveyed 1,753 students from four American colleges — two state-supported public schools and two highly selective religious institutions — finding 37 percent reported at least one piercing and 14 percent were tattooed. Four percent reported having seven or more piercings, four or more tattoos, and/or at least one piercing in their nipples or genitals. Aside from their use of the body as a canvas, the students were asked about various aspects of their behavior, including drug and alcohol use, sexual activity and whether they cheat on tests.

The findings revealed "sharp differences in the levels of deviant behavior among those with just one tattoo vs. those with four or more, and among those with just one to three piercings vs. those with seven or more," reports sociologist Jerome Koch, the paper's lead author. "The level of deviance reported by respondents with low levels of body art is much closer to those with none than to those with multiple tattoos and piercings, or intimate piercings."

The abstract from researchers, Jerome R. Koch, Alden E. Roberts, Myrna L. Armstrong, and Donna C. Owen

This research examines the relationship between body art (tattoos and piercings) and deviance. With the increasing mainstream presence of visible tattoos and piercings among entertainers, athletes, and even in corporate boardrooms, we wonder the extent to which long-time enthusiasts and collectors regard the phenomenon as encroachment. We use sub-cultural identity theory to propose that individuals with increasing evidence of body art procurement will also report higher levels of deviant behavior in order to maintain and/or increase social distance from the mainstream. We tested this proposition by surveying 1753 American college students, asking them to report their level of body art acquisition and their history of deviance. Results indicate that respondents with four or more tattoos, seven or more body piercings, or piercings located in their nipples or genitals, were substantively and significantly more likely to report regular marijuana use, occasional use of other illegal drugs, and a history of being arrested for a crime. Less pronounced, but still significant in many cases, was an increased propensity for those with higher incidence of body art to cheat on college work, binge drink, and report having had multiple sex partners in the course of their lifetime.

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