Tattoo Taboo: An Examination of Stigma and Negative Attitudes Concerning Tattooed Individuals within an Irish Context

Aims: The current study sought to provide a better understanding of stigma and negative attitudes towards tattooed individuals within an Irish context while also exploring gender differences. Method: A total of 298 participants completed an online questionnaire that included a modified version of the tattoo stigma victimization scale to accommodate and include both tattooed and non-tattooed participants. Results: The current study has only provided partial support for previous research in that while tattooed individuals did score higher as hypothesised, gender did not appear to be a significant predictor of stigma and negative attitudes. Additionally, the current study found an inverse result in comparison to prior literature in that males scored higher while compared to females in terms of stigma and negative attitude scores. Conclusion: Findings provide a greater understanding of stigma and negative attitude in terms of tattooed individuals as the current study addressed some limitations of previous research. Implications for this study and best practices for measuring and researching stigma and negative attitudes are discussed.