Stigma of ink: Tattoo attitudes among college students

• Having a tattoo, tattooed friends and tattooed family members is correlated with less stigma against tattooed persons.
• Beliefs that tattooing involves health risks and pain is correlated with greater stigma against tattooed persons.
• Among tattooed and non-tattooed, older respondents are less likely to get a future tattoo.
• Among tattooed respondents a greater number of tattoos and greater coverage are correlated with greater experience of stigma and a greater commitment to current tattoos.
• Among tattooed respondents greater experience of stigma is correlated with greater concealment and greater likelihood of removal.

We test a structural equations model of stigma against tattooed persons and attitudes toward future tattoos among 195 tattooed and 257 non-tattooed college students. Having tattooed friends and family members undermines stigma against tattooed persons while beliefs about negative side effects of tattooing reinforces stigma assignment. The variables above and the respondent having a tattoo predict attitude toward future tattoos. We test a second model, stigma victimization, drawing on data from the 195 tattooed respondents. While greater tattoo abundance results in greater stigma victimization, respondents with more tattoos also report a greater commitment to their current tattoos and less desire for removal. We discuss results using attitude theory, stigma theory, and the contact theory of prejudice.