One in five US adults now has a tattoo

NEW YORK, N.Y. – There is a lot of culture and lore associated with tattoos from ancient art to modern expressionism and there are many reasons people choose to get, or not get, permanent body ink.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – There is a lot of culture and lore associated with tattoos from ancient art to modern expressionism and there are many reasons people choose to get, or not get, permanent body ink. A recent Harris Poll looks at the number of Americans who currently have tattoos, and what those tattoos may say about them.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,016 adults surveyed online between January 16 and 23, 2012 by Harris Interactive.

Currently one in five U.S. adults has at least one tattoo (21%) which is up from the 16% and 14% who reported having a tattoo when this question was asked in 2003 and 2008, respectively. Tattoos seem to be most prevalent in the West โ€” 26% of adults in that region report having at least one โ€” compared to fewer in the East (21%), Midwest (21%) and South (18%). Adults aged 30-39 are most likely to have a tattoo (38%) compared to both those younger (30% of those 25-29 and 22% of those 18-24) and older (27% of those 40-49, 11% of those 50-64 and just 5% of those 65 and older). Women are slightly more likely than men, for the first time since this question was first asked, to have a tattoo (now 23% versus 19%).

Among those with a tattoo, most have never regretted getting a tattoo (86%) and three in ten say it makes them feel more sexy (30%). One-quarter say having a tattoo makes them feel rebellious (25%), 21% say both it makes them feel attractive or strong, 16% say it makes them feel spiritual and fewer say it makes them feel more healthy (9%), intelligent (8%) or athletic (5%).

However, among those without tattoos the opinions differ:

At least two in five say that people with tattoos are less attractive (45%) or sexy (39%);

One-quarter say that people with tattoos are less intelligent (27%), healthy (25%) or spiritual (25%);

However, having a tattoo seems to make little difference in non-tattooed people’s perceptions regarding strength and athleticism (82% say it makes no difference); yet,

Half of those without a tattoo say people with tattoos are more rebellious (50%).

This idea connecting tattoos with rebelliousness is not new, however, it may be waning. In 2008 among all adults (whether or not they had a tattoo) almost three in ten said that people with tattoos are more likely to do something most people consider deviant (29%) while 2% said people with tattoos were less likely to do something deviant and 69% said it made no difference. Today, the number of people who say adults with tattoos are more likely to do something most people consider deviant has dropped to 24%, and the number of people who say it makes no difference has gone up, to 74%.

Looking at some other forms of body art or expression, currently 49% of U.S. adults have pierced ears, which is consistent with the 50% who reported having pierced ears in 2008. Although ear piercing is fairly common, other piercings are not: only 7% say they have a piercing elsewhere on their body and 4% report having a facial piercing not on the ear. Only 1% of U.S. adults say that they currently have a henna, or non-permanent, tattoo.

Although tattoos may be gaining popularity (or at least frequency) among U.S. adults, the majority think that one should be an adult before being able to get a tattoo โ€” 84% of U.S. adults say that young people should be between 18 and 21 years of age before they are able to get a tattoo without parental permission. 8% think those 16 or 17 should be allowed to get tattoos and 6% say that the age limit should be 22 years or older.

So What?

Tattoos have long been a hobby for some, and with the recent proliferation of tattoo-related television shows, it seems interest in them may be broadening. Today 21% of U.S. adults report having a tattoo which is up from previous years. It seems that with the increasing number of adults with tattoos this permanent body art is becoming more accepted โ€” fewer people think it is related to deviant behavior than before โ€” yet among those without tattoos there are still several negative stigmas associated with having tattoos. It will be interesting to see how these trends evolve in the future โ€” if more people continue to get tattoos will the negative connotations decline, or will the percentage of Americans with tattoos begin to stagnate or wane and the stigmas hold?

TABLE 1
WHO HAS TATTOOS?
“How many tattoos do you currently have on your body?”
(People saying “one or more”)

Base: All Adults

2003
2008
2012

%
%
%

All Adults
16
14
21

Region

East
14
12
21

Midwest
14
10
21

South
15
13
18

West
20
20
26

Age

18 โ€“ 24
13
9
22

25 โ€“ 29
36
32
30

30 โ€“ 39
28
25
38

40 โ€“ 49
14
12
27

50 โ€“ 64
10
8
11

65 +
7
9
5

Sex

Male
16
15
19

Female
15
13
23

Race/Ethnicity

White
16
15
20

Black
14
7
21

Hispanic
18
15
30

Party I.D.

Republican
14
13
17

Democratic
18
15
22

Independent
12
13
21

TABLE 2
REGRET HAVING A TATTOO?
“Do you ever regret getting a tattoo?”

Base: Currently Have a Tattoo

2003
2008
2012

%
%
%

Yes
17
16
14

No
83
84
86

Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 3
TATTOOS AND DEVIANT BEHAVIOR
“Do you think people with tattoos are more or less likely to do something most people would consider deviant?”

Base: All adults

Totals

2003
2008
2012

%
%
%

More likely
27
29
24

Less likely
2
2
2

No difference
71
69
74

Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 4
HOW HAVE A TATTOO MAKES ME FEEL
“Please complete the following sentence: ‘Compared to not having a tattoo…having a tattoo has made me feel…?'”

Base: Currently Have a Tattoo

More
Less
No Difference

Sexy
%
30
3
68

Rebellious
%
25
3
72

Attractive
%
21
5
74

Strong
%
21
3
76

Spiritual
%
16
3
82

Healthy
%
9
3
88

Intelligent
%
8
5
87

Athletic
%
5
6
89

Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 5
HOW HAVE A TATTOO MAKES ME FEEL – TREND
“Please complete the following sentence: ‘Compared to not having a tattoo…having a tattoo has made me feel…?'”
Those saying more

Base: Currently Have a Tattoo

2003
2008
2012

Sexy
%
34
31
30

Rebellious
%
29
36
25

Attractive
%
26
19
21

Strong
%
16
19
21

Spiritual
%
20
13
16

Healthy
%
4
4
9

Intelligent
%
5
5
8

Athletic
%
3
5
5

Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 6
ATTITUDES OF THOSE WITHOUT A TATTOO
“Please complete the following sentence: ‘Compared to people without tattoos, I think people with tattoos are…?'”

Base: All Without Tattoos

More
Less
No Difference

Rebellious
%
50
4
46

Strong
%
8
10
82

Sexy
%
5
39
56

Athletic
%
5
13
82

Spiritual
%
4
25
71

Attractive
%
4
45
51

Intelligent
%
2
27
71

Healthy
%
1
25
74

Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 7
ATTITUDES OF THOSE WITHOUT A TATTOO – TREND
“Please complete the following sentence: ‘Compared to people without tattoos, I think people with tattoos are…?'”

Base: All Without Tattoos

More
Less

2003
2008
2012
2003
2008
2012

Rebellious
%
57
54
50
2
3
4

Strong
%
8
8
8
8
10
10

Sexy
%
8
6
5
36
39
39

Athletic
%
4
5
5
14
13
13

Spiritual
%
3
5
4
29
25
25

Attractive
%
4
4
4
42
47
45

Intelligent
%
*
1
2
31
27
27

Healthy
%
1
2
1
21
25
25

Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding; * indicates less than .05%

TABLE 8
PIERCINGS AND HENNA TATTOOS
“Do you have any of the following?”

Base: All Adults

Have
Do not have
Decline to answer

Pierced ears
%
49
49
2

A piercing on your body, but not on your face
%
7
91
2

A piercing on your face, but not on your ears
%
4
94
2

Henna tattoos, that is tattoos that are not permanent
%
1
97
2

Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 9
PIERCINGS AND HENNA TATTOOS
“Do you have any of the following?”
Summary of those saying “have”

Base: All Adults

2008
2012

Pierced ears
%
50
49

A piercing on your body, but not on your face
%
5
7

A piercing on your face, but not on your ears
%
2
4

Henna tattoos, that is tattoos that are not permanent
%
2
1

TABLE 10
AGE FOR TATTOOS
“At what age do you think young people should legally be allowed to get a tattoo without parental permission?”

Base: All Adults

Age
Total

1-10
%
*

11-13
%
*

14-15
%
*

16-17
%
8

18-21
%
84

22+
%
6

Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding; * indicates less than .05%

About the author

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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