perceptions of the tattooed person’s character
(Applied Psychology)
(Advanced Statistical Data Analysis)
Authors note
I hereby declare that this work is my own and not copied from any other source and that all sources have been acknowledge.
CHAPTER 1—INTRODUCTION6Purpose of the StudyProblem and Significance Research Question/Hypotheses7 Definition of TermsLimitations DelimitationsAssumptions
CHAPTER 2—LITERATURE REVIEW8CHAPTER 3—METHODOLOGY .Model Research DesignInstrument Data Collection Data AnalysisVariablesLimitations Delimitations AssumptionsCHAPTER 4—RESULTS Data Screening Scale Development Analyses of Primary Hypotheses Analyses of Secondary Hypotheses
CHAPTER 5—DISCUSSION Discussion of Findings Implications of the Limitations on Present and Future Research Recommendations Practical Application of Results Future Research
REFERENCES
Abstract
The purpose of this is to examine how the characters of persons with tattoos are perceived based on the type of tattoo they have. The study utilized responses from 50 participants of both the male and female gender. The sample used was to be a representation of the larger population. The major findings from the study show that tattoos can be generalized into two categories, namely, the religious and non-religious ones to cover all variations of tattoos.
One of the major implications of this study is that people are generally less critical of tattoo depicting religious symbols that they are of non-religious ones regardless of whether they identify with the said religion or not
Chapter 1
Introduction
The tattoo culture though an interesting subject for debate, has been passed down through cultures since time immemorial. The idea came to mind last summer (2013) I was considering getting a tattoo. I was mulling over the idea, I created designs and did research, and all the while my parents kept on telling me about the stigma surrounding tattooed people. Therefore, I thought it is the perfect opportunity in 4th year to take this idea as my Major Research Project. I set about designing an experiment that would try to find a difference in the way people make personality judgments on those with tattoos.
The history of tattoos is shrouded in both mystery and celebration. While there exists a variety of meanings for a large collection of tattoos, some bear a more personal meaning than others depending on one’s reason to have one. For example the Chinese believe that butterflies represent rebirth while the Japanese see it as the personification of the soul of a departed one. The general feeling is that animal tattoos are a sort of identification of oneself to the characteristics of the said animal, even with the growing number of pet owners who have embraced this concept and broadened it to incorporate their pets as part of their families.
While the type of tattoo may vary, the generalization into religious and non-religious has cannot be ignored. Different religions have recordings of their views on the tattoo subject. The Bible for instance, does not condone as is evident in the book of Leviticus: chapter 19 verses 28 yet: in this very same Bible, we see Moses being partial to tattoos, perhaps as a means to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt (where they served as slaves).closer to these modern times young Christians are known to embrace religious symbols such as the Cross and Bible verses as an identity, a sort of marriage between their personal beliefs and their religion.
Purpose of the study
While the modern day work environment is more accommodating of them, tattoos are still not openly acceptable especially to the older generation. The rule of the thumb is to cover up on suits and other acceptable work attire so as to maintain the cordial co-existence between the old and new school of thoughts that are present in the workforce.
Problem and significance
The research problem is the stigma surrounding the notion people have with regards to tattoos and how this perception will affect how ones character is seen to either go hand in hand with the tattoo are divorce from it. The study is significant in its attempt to help understand what society thinks about tattoos and how much weight this perception has on one’s character.
The aim of the study was to examine how these perception can affect how society interacts with the tattooed persons in the social and professional spheres. While culturally accepted as symbols of beauty, the struggle to accommodate a broader application to that day to day routine is still a work in progress.
Research
The scope of research targeted the modern day youthful age group of between 18 to 30 years of age, without leaving out the slightly older generation. The age group selected was due to the experimental nature of persons in the said age groups, they are observed to be more willing to take risks (such as getting inked) without looking for societies justification. Perhaps it is this trait that makes them stand out as among the most innovative when it come to the sizes and designs of the tattoos they are willing to get.
Hypothesis
Ho: Factor 1 (Tattoos, R/NR/C) has no effect on the Personality Rating (Gosling TIPI Rating)
Ha: Factor 1 (Tattoos, R/NR/C) does have an effect on the Personality Rating (Gosling TIPI Rating)
Ho: There is no interaction between factor 1 (Tattoos, R/NR/C) and factor 2 : Personality Rating (Gosling TIPI Rating)
Ha: There is an interaction between factor 1 (Tattoos, R/NR/C) and factor 2 : Personality Rating (Gosling TIPI Rating)
Definition of terms
TIPI- Ten Item Personality Inventory
Ten-Item Personality Inventory-(TIPI)
Here are a number of personality traits that may or may not apply to you. Please write a number next to each statement to indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with that statement. You should rate the extent to which the pair of traits applies to you, even if one characteristic applies more strongly than the other.
1 = Disagree strongly
2 = Disagree moderately
3 = Disagree a little
4 = Neither agree nor disagree
5 = Agree a little
6 = Agree moderately
7 = Agree strongly
I see myself as:
1. _____ Extraverted, enthusiastic.
2. _____ Critical, quarrelsome.
3. _____ Dependable, self-disciplined.
4. _____ Anxious, easily upset.
5. _____ Open to new experiences, complex.
6. _____ Reserved, quiet.
7. _____ Sympathetic, warm.
8. _____ Disorganized, careless.
9. _____ Calm, emotionally stable.
10. _____ Conventional, uncreative.
______________________________________________________________________________
TIPI scale scoring (“R” denotes reverse-scored items):
Extraversion: 1, 6R; Agreeableness: 2R, 7; Conscientiousness; 3, 8R; Emotional Stability: 4R, 9; Openness to Experiences: 5, 10R.
Limitations
Delimitations
The use of an online survey made it easy to consolidate the data from the respondents.
Assumptions
The unspoken assumption is that a person gets a tattoo of his/her own free will. Another assumption is that the size and design of that tattoos one has are purely a matter of preference. The study also assumed that the tattoos can be either symbolic, a simple fancy and not both.
CHAPTER 2- LITERATURE REVIEW
CHAPTER 3- METHODOLOGY
Model
The researcher recruited 50 participants at random via social media platforms (Facebook and twitter).the participants whose age ranged between 18 and 35 years of age then proceeded to follow a link designed using www.kwiksurveys.com consisting of seven pages. The survey utilized a modified version of the Gosling TIPI Personality Scale to assess participants’ perceptions of the tattooed person’s character.
Research
It was hypothesized that a tattoo's design on a person's body will directly influence another's perceptions of the tattooed person’s character.
Ho: Factor 1 (Tattoos, R/NR/C) has no effect on the Personality Rating (Gosling TIPI Rating)
Ha: Factor 1 (Tattoos, R/NR/C) does have an effect on the Personality Rating (Gosling TIPI Rating)
Ho: There is no interaction between factor 1 (Tattoos, R/NR/C) and factor 2 : Personality Rating (Gosling TIPI Rating)
Ha: There is an interaction between factor 1 (Tattoos, R/NR/C) and factor 2 : Personality Rating (Gosling TIPI Rating)
Design
The experiment used a 3x10 within subjects design. The experiment had 2 Factors. Factor 1 - Tattoo Style : 3 levels (Religious(R), Non-Religious(NR), Control(C)) and Factor 2 - Personality Qualities : 10 levels Modified Gosling TIPI scale (1- extraverted, 2- critical, 3- dependable, 4- anxious, 5- open to new experiences, 6- reserved, 7- sympathetic, 8- disorganized, 9- calm, 10- conventional) .
A 2-way Repeated Measures ANOVA was used to test across the 2 factors in the experiment. The independent variable is the style of tattoo in the images shown to the participants (Religious (style), Non-Religious (Style), Control (No Tattoo)) and the dependent Variable Personality Rating (Gosling TIPI). Qualitative data, in the form of open-ended questions at the end of the survey were used to give participants room to make any inclusions in their observations.
Instrument
The online survey model design utilized intercepts with subject designs such that:
Design= tattoo+ personality+ tattoo*personality
The survey used was an open-ended questionnaire that was easy to navigate and had room to include feedback on matters the participants thought were relevant to the survey.
Data collection
The researcher posts a link to the survey on a social media site (Facebook & Twitter). The participant opens the link and was brought to the survey. The participants’ first page is the "Introduction". Here the participant was duly informed about the purpose of the research, they are invited to take part, and the risks involved are explained. The second page is the "Brief" here the participant accepts that they have understood the introduction and agree to take part in the study.
Next, the participant was brought to the "About Yourself" page, in this page important and relevant information is collected about the participant (that is: Gender and Age). Next, the participants’ were shown the "Scale" page, this page informs the participant on the upcoming survey images and how they will be assessed. They were shown an example of the modified Gosling TIPI scale. The participant then moves onto the "Survey" page, this page had four religious tattoo images, 4 non-religious tattoo images and 4 control images (no tattoo). After each image, the participant must complete the modified Gosling TIPI scale. The participant is then brought to the "Final page", here the participants can contribute with some qualitative data, there are open-ended questions about tattoos. At the end, the participants must complete a Gosling TIPI scale about themselves.
Data analysis
An analysis was carried out to establish data standardization of the respondents’ answers, the central tendency, and measure of dispersion from the mean. Graphs were used to represent the finding from the data analyzed as will be seen in the next chapter.
Variables
Personality- using the ten scale personality index
Age- ranging between 18 – 30 years
Gender- male or female
Type of tattoo- religious or non-religious
Presence of a tattoo- tattooed verses controlled
Limitations
Though the range of personality traits were to be an inclusive fit for all persons, some participants felt locked out of the scope of survey. The generalization of tattoos into either or locked out the different variation such as the animal tattoo, biomechanical tattoos, portraits and abstract ones
Delimitations
The generalized categories helped to include the tattoo that have been handed down as a celebration of one’s culture be it religious or otherwise.
Assumptions
The assumption that all the above mentioned tattoos under survey were chosen as a matter of preference or preservation of a memory or culture.
CHAPTER 4- RESULTS
Data screening
The overall effect tattoo with F=1.011 and P=-0.3 is not significant while the overall effect personality significant with F=24.790 and P=-0.00
Scale development
The results were on a general linear model to measure within subject factors of tattoo’s, personality and the Gosling TIPI Scale.
The above graph has an estimated marginal mean ranging between 3 – 5.50 on the y-axis and 0- 10 on the x-axis this 3 corresponding graphs to represent the 3 tattoo affiliations.
Analysis of primary hypotheses
Tattoo level 1(religious) and 3(control) results are much clustered while tattoo level 2 (non-religious) are very divergent. Personality rating level 6 is much lower than the level 1 and # score. This indicates that people see persons with non-religious tattoos to be less reserved.
Analysis of secondary hypotheses
Personality ratings depend on what tattoo you have. The religious and control are extremely similar indicating people are less critical if you have a religious style tattoo. Non- religious style tattoos however evoke much greater degrees of character judgment
CHAPTER 5- DISCUSSION
Discussion of findings
The design ended up being extremely complicated 3x10. In hindsight, I would have modified the Gosling TIPI scale to take the most important four personality traits instead of it still having 10. It led to massive amounts of data and was extremely complicated to interpret in SPSS. Statistically speaking, the two-way Repeated Measures ANOVA did the job. I have become more than confused with my hypotheses; however, I understand it when I write it down in plain English, but when it comes to statistically writing it I really am overwhelmed.
Implications of the limitations on present and future research
The statistical significance of the ANOVA is easily understood in theory but may be a bit confusing to interpret if the sample size is overtly big.
Recommendations
A vigorous pilot test should be undertaken before the main sample survey to prepare the researcher cope with the volume of data that he/she aims to collect. There is an observable trend in the growing number of tattoo enthusiasts due to the increases access to information among the high velocity of cultural integration.
A broader scope of the research to cover the trend in tattooing, how it has developed as a form of art into an income generating industry would be a useful addition to the researcher as well as a relevant avenue to pursue in the future. Also to note is that the older generation are also embracing the art of tattooing to keep memories of their loved ones alive especially via portrait tattoos. The current generation in their later days would make an older generation more amenable to embracing change and passing on the tattoo trend to their children and maybe grandchildren.
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