High Cost of Body Art

A new study shows body piercings and tattoos are highly judged on-the-job and can impact advancement in the workplace

By Ben Larrison
CTW Features

Do you have a tattoo? How about a piercing somewhere other that your ear? If so, you’re probably being judged right now.

In a Texas State University, San Marcos, survey of 141 people, both with and without body art, a majority of the workers said that they look down upon their tattooed and pierced colleagues. “Even people who had body art of their own still felt this person was an unacceptable work partner in situations where they had to share their pay,” says Dr. Brian Miller, management professor at Texas State and one of the authors of the study. “They would say ‘It is less than acceptable for me to have to work with someone whose appearance may negatively affect my job performance and my income.’”

The appeal of body art has boomed in the past 30 years. Whereas only one percent of Americans had a tattoo in 1976, that number had leapt to an astonishing 24 percent by 2006, this according to a report in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. In addition to tats, body piercings have become increasingly popular: The same study said that 14 percent of Americans now have piercings in places other than the lower ear. These trends are especially common among people ages 18 to 24, about 16 percent of whom have both tattoos and piercings.

“(It’s) a real kind of existential question: What’s brought it on?” Miller says. “One thing that has brought it on is the appearance of a reduced stigmatization associated with tattoos.” But while tattoos and piercings are becoming more prevalent in American society, they have not quite breached the barrier of acceptance in the workplace. According to the report, 81 percent of those surveyed said that piercings in places other than the ear are unprofessional, while 76 percent said the same about visible tattoos. “With these perceptions in mind,” the report reads, “sixty-seven percent of employees conceal their tattoos or piercings when at work.”

The findings revealed that most people take issue with other workers with tattoos and piercings – even those people with body art themselves. Because the survey was anonymous, Miller says, those workers with piercings or tattoos felt comfortable expressing their disapproval. Though the response would likely be different if they posed the question to people with body art on the street, he says. “To say otherwise would be an indictment of themselves,” Miller says.

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