Psychology and tattoos

I recently read an article about the correlation of people getting tattooed and their psychological attributes and it was also touching some perceived reasons behind getting tattooed. The author Rami Gabriel (2020) is in an article of Psychology Today stating that tattoos being a statement of commitment in which the individual shows seemingly positive features of a strive to plan for the future and having some sort of predictable stability. This is quite the opposite of what we have been biased to believe in the near past, so it's very interesting to see how the prejudices are slowly changing right before our eyes now when it comes to tattoos. He also states that the value of the symbol, when it comes to interpret the tattoo, lies within the interpretability: first when you are a part of a certain group in society, you know what the tattoo stands for. This also proves your commitment to the lifestyle and values of each specific group. The author also clarifies how the tattoos facilitate the social navigation for individuals and the self expression. Just as well as we are having a specific hair style, we have specific tattoos which show our identities but also makes it clear to our kin where we stand.

Another interesting point being made here is that even though some of the hierarchy symbols, status, religion, culture and other original obscure native ancient symbols have lost much of their authority in our western culture today, they can still be recreated with additional elements or styles, which seem to make the carrier being perceived as being in touch with his/her roots and also now more creative (Gabriel 2020).