Do young women with tattoos have lower self-esteem and body image than their peers without tattoos? A non-verbal repertory grid technique approach

Semion Kertzman; Alex Kagan; Omer Hegedish; Rina Lapidus; Abraham Weizman

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0206411

Do young women with tattoos have lower self-esteem and body image than their peers without tattoos? A non-verbal repertory grid technique approach

PLoS One. 2019 Jan 25;14(1):e0206411. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206411. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Semion Kertzman^{1

2}, Alex Kagan^{3

4

5}, Omer Hegedish^{1

6}, Rina Lapidus⁷, Abraham Weizman^{2

8}

Affiliations

¹ Beer-Ya'akov-Ness Ziona Mental Health Center, Forensic Psychiatry Division, Ness Ziona, Israel.
² Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
³ The Program for Hermeneutics and Cultural Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies Unit, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
⁴ Department of Neuro-Pathopsychology, L.S. Vygotsky Institute of Psychology, RSUH, Moscow, Russia.
⁵ Department of Criminology, Ashkelon Academic College, Ashkelon, Israel.
⁶ Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
⁷ Comparative Literature Department, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
⁸ Research Unit, Geha Mental Health Center and Felsenstein Medical Research Center, Petah Tikva, Israel.

Abstract

Available evidence regarding the reasons for people to acquire body markers such as tattoos is contradictory. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between self-esteem and body image in young women with tattoos. To this end, the repertory grid technique (RGT) was adapted and used to assess differences between women with and without tattoos in terms of self-esteem and body image. Sixty young women with tattoos and sixty young women without (all aged 18-35 years), performed the Color RGT in order to evaluate the relationship between self-esteem and body image. Compared to women without tattoos, women with tattoos showed significantly lower self-esteem and displayed stronger relationships between three constructs: ideal body, ideal self and tattooed woman status. No significant differences in body image were detected between the two groups. Women with tattoos were characterized by an association between body image and self-esteem, while women without tattoos did not display such a correlation. Thus, it appears that links between self-esteem, ideal body, ideal self and constructs of "woman with tattoos" may play a role in tattooing behavior in young women.

Publication types

Comparative Study

MeSH terms

Adult
Body Image / psychology*
Decision Making
Female
Humans
Male
Peer Group*
Psychometrics
Self Concept*
Self Report / statistics & numerical data
Software
Tattooing / psychology*
Young Adult

Grants and funding

Neither financial nor material support was received from any external resource for this work. One of the authors of this study, Dr. Kertzman is employed by Anima Scan Ltd but his employment is unrelated to the current study and his salary is in no way compensation for any work done on this study. Additionally, Anima Scan Ltd. did not provide any financial support for this study in any form. Neither did Anima Scan Ltd. play a role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.