The psychological functions of tattooing in relation to mental body representations and self-esteem in women in emerging adulthood.

Abstract

Objectives: Tattooing as a permanent way of modifying the body is most likely to be closely related to the way the bodily self is experienced. Previous research in tattooed people has mainly addressed their self-esteem and sense of uniqueness. In contrast, the elaboration of bodily experiences in the form of mental representations: body image, body schema and sense of body have rarely been addressed. To date, the psychological functions of tattooing and the associated psychological mechanisms underlying the acts of tattooing have also not been explored. The research presented here is an attempt to fill this lack. Their main aim was to explore the associations of the psychological functions of tattooing with psychological representations of the body and self-esteem in women in emerging adulthood.

Methods: The following methods were used in the study: (1) The Tattoo Psychological Function Questionnaire, (2) The Battery of Tests of The Body Psychological Representations BT-BSR and (3) Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (SES).

Results: Depending on the arrangement of the psychological functions of tattooing, the subjects differed in terms of psychological representations of the body and self-esteem. Women in whom the domina nt function of the tattoo was the expression of emotions were characterised by weaker mental representations of the body (body image, body schema and sense of body), as well as a lower level of self-esteem compared to women in whom the dominant function of the tattoos was self-creation.

Conclusions: The present study shows that among women with tattoos there are significant differences in the way the body is experienced as expressed in mental representations of the body. The pattern of mental functions of tattoos in which expression of emotion dominates over self-creation remains significantly related to weaker body image, body schema and sense of body, as well as to lower levels of self-esteem.