People With Tattoos: 3 Personality Traits That Define Them
Tattoos are already a true social and aesthetic phenomenon. Since they went from prison environments to fashion catwalks and to all types of demographic groups in most Western countries, they have become so normalized that they are no longer something strange, as was the case a few decades ago.
According to estimates by the Spanish Academy of Dermatology, one in three Spaniards between 18 and 35 years old, the millennial generation, has at least one tattoo. It is not an isolated case: in the United States, almost a third of the inhabitants have their skin tattooed in one way or another, according to the Pew Research Center.
Given this rapid expansion, it is normal that social and personality psychologists have been interested in knowing What traits and psychological characteristics define people who wear tattoos
It is clear that each individual is a world; This is a principle that all researchers dedicated to the study of individual differences take into account.
However, it is also true that, in many cases, certain personality traits make us more likely to perform certain behaviors. It occurs with the propensity to consume drugs, to get married, and many others, among which apparently is also the fact of getting one or more tattoos.
Recently, a group of researchers from Anglia Ruskin University has carried out a study precisely to detect those personality traits in which people with tattoos are characterized when compared to the rest of the population.
To carry out this study, a series of volunteers, with or without tattoos, were recruited to complete a personality test. Based on the analysis of all the accumulated data, the team discovered three basic personality traits in those who wear tattoos. They are, fundamentally, the three that we will see below.
1. Extraversion
Extraversion is a personality trait that tells us about the degree to which people depend on external stimuli in the immediate environment. Specifically, who is extraverted tends to seek complex and socially rich environments and full of stimuli, unlike introverted people, who show a certain degree of anxiety if they feel overwhelmed by external stimuli.
In practice, extraverted people are more sociable, since they like to be frequently in crowded places where there are large groups, sounds and visual stimuli. They give the impression of being energetic individuals, although situations in which there is a certain degree of loneliness and isolation can cause their mood to drop, something that does not happen with introverts.
2. Openness to experience
This research shows that people with tattoos They have a significant tendency to welcome new experiences This means that, in general, the changes that occur in life over time are not seen as something bad, something that does happen, for example, in conservative people.
On the other hand, the search for new experiences is seen as something exciting by those with this type of personality, while monotonous situations quickly cause boredom. In general, everything related to adventure and the possibility of assuming a certain degree of risk It is experienced with pleasure.
It is well known that many people claim to get tattoos simply because they like them or because they have a meaning that they know more than anyone else. Of course, it is very possible that for hundreds of thousands of people with tattoos this is the case, but this study has found that, in general, Whoever decides to tattoo their skin shows a significant motivation to stand out from the rest
Based on this information, resorting to this type of aesthetic and symbolic resources can be seen as an attempt to build an identity in front of others; have something to tell through stories traced by the ink that decorates the body these narratives normally being something that has to do with the life philosophy of the wearer, or with important events that have occurred in their lives.
In the end, even the smallest and most hidden tattoos give rise to questions and excuses to explain how life is lived, or has been lived. The fact that only very few people see some of them is in itself something that gives strength to their power to express, given that the discretion and intimacy associated with them cause a clear emotional impact on those who contemplate them.
