Associations between tattooed body surface area and maladaptive personality traits in a community sample

Abstract

Abstract Evidence for personality differences between tattooed and non-tattooed adults is mixed. Assessing dimensional maladaptive traits may help clarify these associations. A community sample of adults in Cyprus ( N  = 280; M  = 28.0, SD = 9.5; range 18 to 64) completed the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 Brief Form Adult (PID-5-BF) and a Tattoo Coverage Tool estimating the percentage of body surface area tattooed (tBSA). Analyses included t-tests, correlations, and hierarchical regressions controlling for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. More than half (58.6%) of the participants reported having at least one tattoo. Compared with non-tattooed participants, tattooed participants scored higher on Disinhibition ( d = 0.47, p < .01) and on the PID-5-BF total ( d = 0.29, p = .02). tBSA correlated with Antagonism ( r = .26, p < .01), Disinhibition ( r = .21, p < .01), and the PID-5-BF total ( r = .16, p = .01). Tattoo count showed weaker associations (Disinhibition r = .14, p < .05; Psychoticism r = .12, p < .05). In regressions, Antagonism alone explained 6.8% of the variance in tBSA ( p < .001) and Disinhibition alone explained 4.6% ( p < .001). In the joint model, Antagonism and Disinhibition explained 7.7% of the variance in tBSA ( p < .001), with Antagonism emerging as a significant predictor ( p < .01). Men reported higher tBSA and higher Antagonism, Detachment, Disinhibition, Psychoticism, and PID-5-BF total scores; women scored higher on Negative Affectivity. Tattoo presence was associated with higher Disinhibition and a higher overall maladaptive trait load, while Antagonism best tracked tBSA. tBSA was more sensitive than counts for detecting trait associations. Findings support AMPD-aligned assessment and the use of tBSA in community research on tattooing.