Tattoo and Personality Traits in Croatian Veterans

Abstract

To examine whether tattooed patients, treated for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by war at the Ward for Psycho-trauma of the Clinical Hospital Osijek, differ from non-tattooed patients by certain personality traits. The study was conducted on one hundred Croatian veterans who were divided into two groups with respect to the presence/ absence of tattoo. To assess the symptoms of PTSD, the Clinical Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-2) was used for all subjects. To assess personality traits the following psychology tests were applied: Purdue non-verbal IQ test, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-1), and Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire (EPQ/A and EPQ/IVE). With respect to the examined pre-traumatic variables and PTSD symptoms, the two groups manifested no differences. The non-tattooed group achieved higher scores on the IQ test (IQ=100) than the tattooed group (IQ=95). EPQ test showed results either above or below the norms on all scales that were applied. The tattooed group demonstrated significantly higher levels of impulsiveness, adventurism, empathy and neuroticism than the non-tattooed one (p < 0.05). In the group of 100 Croatian veterans treated for PTSD, 33 had tattoos and 67 did not. The results indicated more impulsiveness, adventurism / risk behavior, empathy and neuroticism in the tattooed group than in the non-tattooed group, while there was no significant difference in the intensity of the PTSD symptoms.

Prevalence and correlates of tattooing in Norway: A large‐scale cross‐sectional study

“…Moreover, in line with the postulation of the stimulation (Eysenck & Eysenck, ) theory of tattooing (Copes & Forsyth, ) implying that tattooing is an expression of high extraversion, tattooed persons have comparatively higher scores than non‐tattooed persons on extraversion (Copes & Forsyth, ; Swami et al ., ) and related factors such as the need for uniqueness (Swami et al ., ; Tate & Shelton, ) and sensation seeking (Stirn, Hinz & Brahler, ; Swami et al ., ). There is also evidence of a higher prevalence of antisocial personality disorder (Cardasis et al ., ), impulsivity (Swami et al ., ) and higher neuroticism scores (Pozgain, Barkic, Filakovic & Koic, ) among tattooed individuals compared to the non‐tattooed.…”

Life on Goli otok Through Tattoos

“…Američko istraživanje pokazalo je da su osobe s tetovažama koje pristupaju američkoj vojsci sklonije konzumaciji većih količina alkohola, pušenju cigareta, ali i rizičnom ponašanju kao što je vožnja s vozačem pod utjecajem alkohola (23). Povišena impulzivnost i rizično ponašanje nađeni su u vojnika s tetovažama i u toj skupini više je bolesnika dijagnosticirano s antisocijalnim poremećajem ličnosti u usporedbi s vojnicima bez tetovaža (24,25).…”

“…S druge strane, ima istraživača koji pokazuju da je tetovira-like riding in a car driven by a person under the influence of alcohol (23). Increased impulsiveness and risky behaviour have been identified in soldiers with tattoos, and the same group contained more patients diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder than the group of soldiers without tattoos (24,25).…”

Satisfacción de la imagen corporal en universitarios que cuenten con el 10% del cuerpo tatuado y universitarios no tatuados

“…En cuanto a investigaciones de tipo Cuantitativo se encuentran muy pocas evidencias relacionadas con el tatuaje, algunas investigaciones proponen que en la actualidad tanto hombres como mujeres realizan la práctica de tatuarse, las mujeres prefieren hacerlo en la espalda, vientre, cuello y cadera, zonas que están relacionadas con el erotismo femenino, en cambio los hombres prefieren los brazos, espalda, pecho y canilla que se relaciona con la fuerza y virilidad (Pérez & Sánchez, 2001). Estudios en EEUU y Argentina señalan factores de riesgo asociados a la presencia de los tatuajes en la adolescencia, por ejemplo en varones se ha determinado una relación entre tatuajes y conductas violentas, peleas, drogas pesadas, promiscuidad; en mujeres los tatuajes se relacionan con drogas pesadas, conductas sexuales y suicidios, además, estas investigaciones postulan que existen mayores probabilidades de un ambiente familiar disfuncional, monoparental, bajos ingresos económicos y baja escolaridad de los padres en adolescentes tatuados; también se encuentra que entre las drogas más reconocidas está el tabaco, alcohol y marihuana; respecto al área académica existen mayores probabilidades de fracaso escolar, ausencias sin permiso en repetidas ocasiones y además existe una tendencia de iniciar la actividad sexual a menor edad traducida a promiscuidad; para terminar gran 74 porcentaje de adolescentes reconocen el tatuaje como una marca que será parte de su piel toda la vida pero ninguno muestra un grado de arrepentimiento de ello (Bosello et al, 2009;Busaniche, Eynamm, Mulli, Paz & Catsicaris 2006;Carroll, Riffenburgh, Roberts, & Myhre 2002;Pozgain, Barkic, Filakovic, & Koic 2004;Roberts & Ryan, 2002;Stephens, 2003).…”