What Do You Think of My Ink? Assessing the Effects of Body Art on Employment Chances

Abstract

Using mixed design analysis of variance, this paper examines the effect of body art on job applicant hireability ratings. It employs the literatures on the social psychologies of stigma and prejudice, as well as aesthetic labor, to frame the argument. The results indicate that photos of tattooed and pierced job applicants result in lower hireability ratings compared to the control faces. The negative effect of body art on employment chances is, however, reduced for job applicants seeking non‐customer‐facing roles. In customer‐facing roles, the tattoo is associated with lower hireability ratings than the piercing. The results suggest that visible body art can potentially be a real impediment to employment. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The effect of foreign accent on employability: a study of the aural dimensions of aesthetic labour in customer-facing and non-customer-facing jobs

“…In other words, job applicants with these three foreign accents are viewed negatively by hiring managers in the interactive services, but more positively for jobs that involve no engagement with customers. This finding is consistent with research by Timming et al (2015), who found that job applicants with tattoos and piercings are more suitable for 'backstage'…”

Taboo tattoos? A study of the gendered effects of body art on consumers' attitudes toward visibly tattooed front line staff

“…We depart from the traditional intersectionality research that focuses on gender and race (McBride, Hebson, & Holgate, 2015) by instead shifting our attention toward the unique and underresearched intersectionality between gender and body art. We also build on a small, but emerging, literature on tattoos in the workplace (Miller, Nicols, & Eure, 2009;Timming, 2011;Timming, 2015;Timming, Nickson, Re, & Perrett, 2015).…”

Does the body modified appearance of front-line employees matter to hotel guests?

“…The study by Brallier et al (2011) identified that tattooed females especially lost advantages in the hiring process compared to non-tattooed females. In comparison, the research by Timming et al (2017) determined that the influence of visible tattoos on men's faces was perceived more negatively compared to tattooed women.…”

“…According to the study by Timming et al (2017), visible body modification influenced the employment chances negatively, especially in customer-facing jobs. In most organisations, visible tattoos and piercings are not permitted (Nickson et al, 2005;Swanger 2006), as these were indicators of non-professionalism (Ruetzler et al, 2012).…”

“…Visible tattoos and piercings can be seen as a detraction from a communicated brand image. Therefore, people with, for instance, tattoos that cannot be covered might face employment problems in this industry (Nickson et al, 2005;Swanger, 2006;Brallier et al, 2011;Timming et al, 2017).…”