1w ago

New psychology research uncovers surprisingly consistent misjudgments of tattooed individuals

www.psypost.org New psychology research uncovers surprisingly consistent misjudgments of tattooed individuals

New research finds that while people often agree on what a tattoo says about someone’s personality, those judgments are usually wrong. The study reveals a consistent gap between how tattoos are perceived and the actual personalities of their wearers.

Science @mander.xyz

www.psypost.org /new-psychology-research-uncovers-surprisingly-consistent-misjudgments-of-tattooed-individuals/

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41 comments

Is this article even worth my time? Is this research worth anything?
Edit: I have read it and disagree with how the experiment was conducted. If participants are supposed to guess personality based on the image of the tattoo, maybe the tattooed person isn't giving an accurate description of themselves. Participants should also rate the personality of someone and not just let the tattooed person rate themselves.
Overall, people were fairly consistent in how they judged tattoos. Raters tended to agree with one another about what certain tattoo features might suggest about personality. For instance, cheerful and colorful tattoos were linked to impressions of higher agreeableness. Large, traditional-looking tattoos were associated with higher extraversion. Tattoos that appeared low in quality or included death imagery led raters to perceive the wearer as more neurotic or less agreeable.
However, these judgments were largely inaccurate. When the researchers compared how participants were rated with how they described themselves, most of the links between tattoo features and personality fell apart. Except for one pattern: people who had tattoos described by raters as “wacky” were somewhat more likely to score higher on openness to experience in their self-assessments.

I was at a concert last night and it struck me just how much I LOVE seeing how people who showed up to share an experience can be so different. My kids were pointing at strange looking people but it just made me smile more and more as explained why I loved their expression and courage to literally wear it in public.
Diversity, new experiences, unexpected is how life should be. I am tattooed, mine are pretty ordinary but last night someone commented on one of mine on the way out of the show. She thought it was strange, so I explained it and we had such a lovely conversation. She had recently beat cancer and was about to get her first.
I don’t know, it’s early and this resonated.

Well yeah, Boomers are still everywhere and most haven't formed a new opinion since 1997.

My mother indoctrinated me to think that tattoos meant a person was "bad." I have three and I'm looking to get more when I figure out what the next ones are.
- Bad bad child

Well how about this guy

Norwegian royalty, tattooed his birthday on his chest. Currently being trialed for accusations of rape and sexual assault among other 20+ charges.
Can we at least say it is ok for SOME tattoos.
- Have you heard of the phrase anecdotal evidence?
  
  Doesn't apply to my case, it is the first time I am seeing someone tattoo his birthday on his chest and even if he did not hold a gun or stuff his crotch with fistfuls of money, my impression of him would be quite similar.

"Surprising"? Are you taking the piss?

The headline here made it sound to me like they were claiming people with tattoos were the ones making poor judgments.
I was like, that’s a pretty ballsy claim to be making.

As a tall, tatted goth lady, many people have the first impression of me that I am intimidating and edgy, which couldn't be further from the truth. So, sample size of me, this tracks.

The country where I live still will not let you donate blood if you have a tattoo.

My only judgement is how much money they’ve spent on them. I hope they’ve been saving for retirement as well.

I'm aware of some bias on this matter - so it's a little difficult to separate, but think I judge people on their clipart tattoos, or performative ego/masculinity.
If you've gota dreamcatcher on your thigh/calf and what appears to be a child's name in flowing script underneath your ear, I'll judge you.
If you're a 24ish barista covered in tatts, yeah I'll not think highly of your choices.
With tattos, you're not joining a team (unless it's a gang tatt, and that's a whole other situation, lol). Yet people keep getting clip art rubbish because it's cool.
I've been thinking of investing in tattoo removal businesses, to be honest!
- Or you could just... not judge people based on body art. It's actually pretty easy.
  
  Yeah, that's fair.
  I can be really judgemental and its something I'm trying to work on because I hate how it becomes a focus on what's around me. Thanks for pointing out another avenue, I guess
- Yeah, fuck baristas. Get a real job right?
  
  Not at all! Maybe consider why spending money on trivial, painful and permanent art isn't helpful when one is likely paid poorly.
  I do get caught up in the thinking that people are trying to join a club by looking like a 'type', but that's just my own shallow and judgmental thinking...

Ohhh. The headline made it sound like people who get tattoos make poor decisions.
- On my first read, I got the meaning right. However, I agree that it's very ambiguous. Were the "of" a "by", I'd swing the other way as well.
- The article says people's opinions about a tatooed person does not necessarily match the tattooed person's view on themself. The article was frustrating to read because it lacked details.

I mean we all judge each other automatically and if you’re an outlier you are going to be targeted. There’s a reason people wear suits and get cleaned up when they have to go to court.