Tattoos, Religiosity, and Deviance Among College Students

ABSTRACT

For much of U.S. history, tattoos carried a stigma. The perception was that tattoos marked gang members and prisoners, not respectable church-going citizens. In recent decades, tattoos have become mainstream, even for some religious people. We analyze the number and content of tattoos in relationship to religiosity and deviance. We test four hypotheses using survey data from 3,525 students at 12 American colleges and universities, finding that the number of tattoos is largely unrelated to religiosity, but tattoo quantity is associated with binge drinking, marijuana use, and having multiple sexual partners. As expected, students with religious tattoos claim a stronger faith, pray more, and attend religious service more than students with no tattoos or non-religious tattoos. However, both religious tattoos and non-religious tattoos are associated with marijuana use and multiple sexual partners in contrast to those with no tattoos. To conclude, we offer a theory of sensation seeking to explain this irony.

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2019 meetings of the Religious Research Association in St. Louis, Missouri.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ For respondents with a religious tattoo, the survey asked them to describe the image in a textbox. Eighty-five students provided a description. The most common images were Christian symbols, such as the cross, dove, or Bible verses.

² We consider marijuana use as a measure of deviance in this study because recreational marijuana use was illegal at the time of data collection in all the states where the survey was administered.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the E.A. Franklin Charitable Trust.

Notes on contributors

Jerome R. Koch

Jerome R. Koch is professor of sociology and associate chair at Texas Tech University. He is also a member of the Texas Tech University Teaching Academy. His research focuses largely on religion, deviance, and well-being. He and his research team have published a substantial body of work on tattoos, religion, deviance, and health. These articles appear in leading academic journals and have been featured on CNN and in Yahoo Health, the Boston Globe, and the Washington Post.

Kevin D. Dougherty

Kevin D. Dougherty is professor of sociology at Baylor University. He is an award-winning teacher and researcher who studies religion in contemporary society, with an emphasis on religious organizations. His published research appears in leading academic journals and has been featured on CNN and National Public Radio and in USA Today.