College Students, Tattooing, And The Health Belief Model: Extending Social Psychological Perspectives On Youth Culture And Deviance

ABSTRACT

This research extends social psychological models which have previously been used to explain tattooing behavior. We apply the Health Belief Model to the decision-making process by which young adults express interest in or obtain a tattoo. We examine the five components of the Health Belief Model with regard to the likelihood of being tattooed, being interested in tattoos, or obtaining a (or another) tattoo. Survey data were gathered from 520 undergraduate students at a large, public university in the southwest. Their responses show the Health Belief Model to be a significant predictor of this behavior among the students in our sample.

Notes

¹This 5^th component was suggested in Rosenstock et al.'s 1988 reconceptualization of the Health Belief Model. They argue that “… enhancement of self-efficacy will usually be required … in the acquisition or modification of complex lifestyle practices, including those related to smoking, alcohol consumption and substance abuse, physical activity, and dietary habits” (Rosenstock et al. 1988, p. 182). We agree, and have included this variable in our work since we regard the decision to obtain or avoid tattooing to be a “complex lifestyle practice.”

²Since the Health Belief Model is based on a process of rational thinking, we find it useful to report the degree to which our respondents who were tattooed were thinking rationally at the time they obtained the procedure. One in ten of the 97 tattooed respondents who answered the question said they were “a little bit drunk” when they got their tattoo; 6 of the 95 tattooed respondents who answered the question said they were “high on drugs” when they got their tattoo. The overwhelming majority report they were neither drunk nor high.

³We regard “interest in tattoos” as a useful variable in that the median age at which our tattooed respondents “first considered getting (their) first tattoo” was 16; the median age at which they “made the decision” to get their first tattoo was 18. This suggests the decision to do so was made with some deliberation and was not especially impulsive. This also suggests a substantial “interest” phase which precedes actually getting a tattoo. While the median ages we report here also suggest the time period might also be one during which 16-year-olds are prevented from actually getting a tattoo for lack of parental consent until they reach age 18, deliberation still occurs and we believe may be captured in those who express “interest” in tattooing on our questionnaire.

⁴The specific questions used to comprise these scales are reported in the Appendix.