Tattoos have become increasingly popular over the past few decades, evolving from a symbol of rebellion to a more mainstream form of personal expression. An estimated 30% of people aged 18-34 in the US have at least one tattoo (1). With their rising popularity comes debate around the potential benefits and drawbacks of getting inked. In this article, we’ll explore some of the main benefits associated with tattoos.
Benefits of tattoos
Some key potential benefits of tattoos include:
– Expressing yourself and your interests
– Memorializing important people or events
– Fostering a sense of belonging and connection
– Boosting confidence and self-esteem
– Promoting spiritual growth and ritual
– Enhancing body image
– Marking important life milestones or transitions
Let’s explore the evidence and reasoning behind each of these benefits in more detail.
Self-expression
One of the most commonly cited benefits of tattoos is their ability to allow self-expression. Tattoos provide a permanent and prominent way for people to communicate their interests, values, and identity.
Tattoos allow people to reflect parts of themselves that they feel are important. According to research, the most common tattoo designs and motifs include (2):
– Symbols with personal symbolic meaning
– Names, dates, letters, and words
– Religious, spiritual, and sacred images
– Hearts, stars, crowns, and other popular designs
– Animals and flowers
– Zodiac or astrology-related symbols
– Memorial tattoos
The permanence of tattoos compared to other expressions of style like clothing or hairstyle may make them particularly meaningful for identity expression. Unlike a t-shirt slogan or pendant necklace, someone’s tattoo will remain on their body for life.
Tattoos also provide a way for people to visibly communicate their interests and affiliations. For example, a music note tattoo can signify a passion for music, a soldier may get their battalion tattooed as a mark of service, and a nature scene can reflect love of the outdoors.
Evidence suggests that the ability for self-expression is a major motivating factor behind getting inked. One survey found that over 70% of tattooed respondents cited self-expression as one of their main motivations (3).
Memorializing important people or events
Memorial or tribute tattoos are also extremely popular. These tattoos allow people to permanently memorialize important people who have passed away or pay tribute to influential individuals, relationships, pets, and life events.
Common examples include:
– The name or portrait tattoo of a deceased loved one
– Tattoo tributes to late celebrities or public figures
– Tattoos marking the loss of a pregnancy or infant
– Pet memorial tattoos
– Symbols representing important achievements like military service or graduation
– Anniversary or wedding date tattoos
Memorial and tribute tattoos can represent a meaningful way to honor people and experiences as well as the passage of time. They allow people to publicly display what they hold dear for the rest of their lives.
Research has found that memorial tattoos help tattooed individuals cope with grief and loss. The tattoos can act as an “ongoing dialogue” with the deceased, helping to keep their memory alive (4).
Fostering belonging
Tattoos can also foster a sense of community, belonging, and connection with others.
Historically, tattoos have marked membership in groups, early examples being religious markings or warrior tattoos in tribes. Today, many subcultures and communities continue to use tattoos this way.
Some examples include:
– Gang or prison tattoos that indicate group affiliation and status
– Military tattoos bringing soldiers together around shared service
– Social cause tattoos supporting movements like breast cancer awareness
– Tattoos within music subcultures like punk or heavy metal fans
– Geek and nerd community tattoos around fan group membership
– Relationship tattoos between family members, couples, or friends
Within these communities, a sense of both belonging and commitment is cultivated through tattoos. The permanent marking of group symbols or imagery ties members together and may enhance feelings of group identity and cohesion.
Even among less formalized groups, shared interest tattoos like matching music notes or flower tattoos can connect people around common interests and values.
One study found that over 75% of people felt more connected to individuals with similar tattoos as themselves (5). The visibility of tattoos can act as an “icebreaker” for initially connecting with others.
Boosting confidence
For some individuals, tattoos can instill a sense of confidence and strength.
Particularly for members of marginalized groups like racial minorities or LGBTQ communities, tattoos can proudly communicate identity in the face of stigma.
Some research has linked tattoos to higher self-esteem and self-confidence. In one study of older American adults, those with tattoos reported higher levels of self-esteem compared to their non-tattooed counterparts (6).
The experience of getting a tattoo, which can be painful, may also boost confidence by providing a sense of achievement. Going through the tattooing process requires grit, self-mastery, and ability to endure discomfort.
That being said, tattoos are by no means universally confidence-boosting. Individual experiences likely depend heavily on the specific tattoo as well as social reactions to it. A tattoo that elicits ridicule from others or regret in the owner may diminish self-esteem.
Promoting spiritual growth
Historically, tattoos have carried important spiritual meaning in many cultures. From Christian religious tattoos to protective spiritual symbols in tribes, tattoos have long marked spiritual roles, ranks, and beliefs.
Today, some people still utilize tattoos as part of their spiritual or religious practice. Examples include:
– Religious imagery or scripture tattoos as affirmations of faith
– Protective symbols based in religious or spiritual traditions
– Ritualistic tattoos around events like pilgrimages or coming of age ceremonies
– Memorial religious tattoos like cross tattoos or bible verse tattoos
Tattoos that reflect spiritual growth, commemorate religious occasions, or memorialize loss can hold deep meaning for religious individuals.
Even beyond overtly religious tattoos, getting inked itself may promote introspection and growth for some. The experience can prompt reflection around mortality, impermanence, legacy, and self-identity.
However, views on tattoos vary widely across religions and spirituality. Tattoos may alternately be considered taboo or prohibited in some faiths. The impact likely depends on the interplay between an individual’s personal faith and their specific cultural context.
Enhancing body image
When designed or placed thoughtfully, tattoos may also enhance body image and help individuals feel more comfortable in their skin.
Firstly, tattoos can conceal perceived flaws. For those with scars, stretch marks, or other blemishes they feel self-conscious about, tattoos offer a means to creatively conceal these areas.
Secondly, tattoos can accentuate physical assets that people appreciate about themselves. Tattoos like shoulder or arm tattoos on muscular individuals may enhance perceived strength and physique. Lower back tattoos on women are sometimes viewed as aesthetically drawing attention to curves.
Evidence also suggests that among overweight individuals, getting tattoos is linked to higher body appreciation and less preoccupation with weight stigma (7).
That being said, as tattoos age over decades they are also susceptible to becoming warped or blurred which could potentially detract from body image over time. Poorly executed or designed tattoos may also foster regret and dissatisfaction with one’s appearance.
So in the right circumstances there is potential for tattoos to enhance body image, but it likely depends on a range of factors specific to each person.
Marking life milestones
Finally, tattoos present a unique way to commemorate major life events and transitions.
Just some examples include:
– Graduation dates or college symbols
– Marriage date tattooed on ring finger
– Tattoos celebrating a birth of a child
– Symbols representing careers or achievements
– Travel mementos like a landmark or map coordinate
– Recovery and rehab tattoos marking addiction or illness survival
Because they are permanent, tattoos memorializing milestone events can be meaningful lifetime reminders of growth, change, and perseverance. They capture particular periods of life to reflect back on in later decades.
Surveys do suggest this motivation is common. Up to half of individuals cite commemorating a pivotal life event as part or all their reasoning for getting inked (8).
Risks and drawbacks
However, tattoos do carry some potential drawbacks and risks worth acknowledging:
– Health risks like infection and allergic reaction
– Pain during the tattooing process
– Expense over time for tattoo removal or re-inking
– Negative social stigma and employment discrimination
– Dissatisfaction or regret over the tattoo later in life
Certain populations like those with chronic conditions or weakened immune systems may face higher risks associated with tattooing. And not all cultures fully accept tattooed individuals.
There are also some common motivations for getting tattooed that do not appear to confer benefits. These include:
– Tattoos gotten mainly on impulse or while intoxicated
– Peer pressure from others rather than personal meaning
– Attempts to conceal or distract from emotional distress
– Dysfunctional attempts to feel in control or resist aging
Tattoos rooted more in dysfunctional motives vs. intentional self-expression, commemoration or connection may be less likely to ultimately be satisfying.
So while tattoos certainly have the potential for great meaning and impact for individuals, they do represent permanent body modifications requiring planning and care.
Conclusion
In conclusion, tattoos offer a range of possible benefits but also some notable drawbacks to weigh as well.
Potential benefits extend from promoting self-expression to memorializing events to enhancing body image when thoughtfully designed and placed. Tattoos provide a permanent and prominent means for people to creatively communicate their identities, values, affiliations and memories.
However, impulsively or dysfunctionally motivated tattoos carry risks of health complications, stigma, or long-term dissatisfaction. And tattoos are not fully accepted across all cultural contexts.
For many though, tattoos represent meaningful forms of self-expression and commemoration that foster belonging, confidence, and growth. The growing popularity of tattoos across demographics reflects their abilities to capture identities, values, and experiences in unique personalized ways.
References
1. Tattoo Statistics: Demographics, Rates, and More [Updated for 2022]
https://www.healthline.com/health/tattoo-statistics#Who-gets-tattoos
2. What Tattoos Mean: Designs, Symbols, and Motivations Explained
https://www.top10tattoostudios.com/tattoo-meanings/
3. Tattoos: What Are the Health Risks?
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/tattoos-what-are-the-health-risks
4. “Tattoos for the Living, Tattoos for the Dead: The Use of Tattooing in Bereavement”
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1532708616674349
5. “Tattoo and identity: The influence of tattoos on perceptions of identity and expression of identity over the life course.”
https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/handle/2299/19236
6. “Body art practices and well-being: A first description of elderly people with tattoos”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022399915002963
7. “More than skin deep: The effect of body modifications on body image”
https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fcdp0000182
8. Tattoo Motivation, Designs and Locations
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2010/12/15/who-has-tattoos-and-other-body-modifiers/