Correlational Analysis of Perception of Tattoos and Employability Mark E. Z. Francisco* Sonakshi Ruhela** Amity University Dubai Abstract In the past generations, there has been an evident increase of people getting inked or having a tattoo in different ages. Tattoos in young adults, these days, are representative of different meanings in their life. The study investigated the relationship of perception of tattoos and employability amongst young adults. The study conducted a survey to 70 students who are currently studying in various universities in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The study found out that there is a undeniable stigma attached to the tattooed young adults. It is found out that tattoos can have a bias in the hiring process, can easily get judged, and colleague won’t be comfortable working with them. Conversely, tattooed and non-tattooed young adults perceived that having tattoos cannot limit a person’s employability and not a hindrance on job promotion. The study will benefit students, young professionals, and HR practitioners to be more open minded and adapt to changes in the workplace. Keywords: Tattoos, Perception, Young Adults, Employability Introduction Over the decades, the continuous prevalence of body art has been observed in different cultures from around the world. The popularity of tattooing was evident to individuals from late boomers to generation z, which holds a representations of distinct meanings such as tribal/cultural marks and fashion statement etc. [1, 2]. Tattooed individuals can be seen in social media, in corporate offices, in cafes and restaurants, and in other businesses. Since tattooing has a growing popularity and more individuals are getting inked, society is becoming more open minded to accept the existence of this kind of norm. Tattooing was one of the most common body modifications which is made by the use of needles, dyes, and colored pigments. It was once known only to prisoners, gangs, and other subcultures, but now it was publicly seen on celebrities, athletes, businessmen, and media personalities on both gender with no specific ages [3]. In recent times, tattoos represent various cultural background, commemoration of special events in life, expression of affection to important people, display of Page 1 of 12 self-identification, personal story, idolism, memory about a significant person, and to boost selfesteem [4, 5, 6]. Tattoos attract society’s attention and make people wonder about the meanings behind the ink and sometimes perceived it inaccurately. People with tattoos were perceived with negative attributes such as immoral, crude, foolish, and undesirable, however positive traits were noticed of being more appealing, interesting, unique, self-confident, and desirable [7]. In addition, getting inked was associated with issues related to self-esteem and body image, risk taking behavior, usage of drugs, alcohol consumption, levels of sexual activity, and limitations on employment [3, 4, 8]. Consequently, people with tattoos have experienced social stigmatization [9]. Tattoo was becoming a widespread trend in young adults starting from the 18 to 25 years of age which correlates with certain risk taking behaviors such as smoking, use of cannabis, and greater numbers of lifetime sexual partners [3]. In young adults, the motives of getting tattoos were related to symbolic personal meaning, extension of their personality or expression of a sense of self, form of visual and non-verbal communication, image management, sexual expression or enhancement, and representation of specific cultures [10, 11, 12]. Many young adults thought that tattooing is risky and can lead to health complications and can also subjected to employment biases, but still among 3 young adults, at least 1 has tattoo/s and planning to get one in the future [1, 8, 11]. Despite the fact of the increase number of people getting inked with the various reasons of acquiring one, specific stigma, stereotypes, and biases about people with visible or invisible tattoos exist in employment. Some countries prohibit applicants with tattoos in certain employment such as armed forces, police, and corporate businesses due to customer’s uncomfortableness and not patronizing the services or product in the future [1]. A total of 8,656 samples aged from 16 – 64 years in Australia was sampled to investigate demographic and behavioral correlates of getting tattooed in the adult population. The research study concluded that tattooing has increased in popularity during the past years and yet tattoos still seem to be a stigma for risk taking behaviors in adults (Heywood et al. 2012). Various organizations have different hiring and screening process depends on the screener’s views, beliefs, and biases on tattoos [8]. In restaurant services industry, about 87% of employers would hire non-tattooed candidates compared to tattooed candidates [13]. Similarly, in hospitality Page 2 of 12 industry, recruiters are reluctant to hire candidates with tattoos especially visible tattoos and with body modifications such as piercings [14]. In addition, customers would likely create an initial stereotypical in-group/out-group judgement towards salesperson based on the presence or absence of tattoo [15]. Employees perceived co-workers with facial tattoos or piercings as less acceptable on jobs which has direct contact with customers [16]. To develop a deeper understanding of the study in hand, an extensive review of existing studies has been take into consideration. The results from the various studies indicate a strong correlation between tattooed individuals and employability. Akaa et al. (2017) aimed to evaluate the prevalence of tattooing among students and residents of Makurdi, Nigeria. The found out that majority of the students residing in Makurdi, Nigeria, do not appreciate tattoos and would not like whenever given a chance to acquire it. Non tattooed students feel like tattooing is a form of body mutilation and their culture believed that a person with tattoo is indecent, could prevent a woman from marrying and signifies low intelligence quotient. In 2017, Naude et al. (2017), examined the perceptions of tattoos among group of Psychology students in South Africa. Most of the participants don’t have tattoos however they were nonjudgmental with regard to tattooing. Among tattooed students, tattoos signified symbolic personal meaning and as a form of self-expression, whereas permanency and medical concerns of tattooing discouraged students from getting a tattoo. Antonellis et al. (2017) explored the effect of having tattoos in employment interview screening. Among 578 participants, this study focused on how employment interview screeners view applicants with tattoos. The aim of the study was to provide employers, human resources management practitioners, and researchers with new research on the impact that tattoos play during the employee interview process. In conclusion the factors that may affect the employment interview screening are mainstream acceptance, gender gap, art/expression, concealed/cover up, and corporate culture. Samyuktha et al. (2018) conducted a survey on awareness and perception about tattoos among college students was conducted to understand the view of people holding toward tattooed people. About 42% of the respondents would not feel uncomfortable if a tattooed person serves them in a public place. Almost 75% responded that they would not judge a tattooed person differently compared to non-tattooed person. 77% of them was not sure about the health risks related of Page 3 of 12 tattooing. In conclusion, most of the adolescent populations were not aware of the health risks related to faulty tattooing and most of the populations’ perceptions were positive toward tattooed people. A recent study conducted by Kertzman et al. (2019), saying that there was a links between selfesteem, ideal body, ideal self and constructs of ‘woman with tattoos’ may play a role in tattooing behavior among young women. Researchers assessed the differences between tattooed and nontattooed women in terms of self-esteem and body image. Tattooed women showed lower selfesteem and displayed higher relationships between three constructs: ideal body, ideal self, and tattooed woman status. Aim The aim of the study is to analyze the relationship between perception of tattoos and employability Objectives Based on the gathered literature and data, the following objectives were formulated: a. To explore the general cause and effect of having tattoos b. To explore the general perceivability of a tattooed person in comparison to a nontattooed person c. To find out the perception of tattoos and its relationship with future employability Methodology This study surveyed 70 college students from different programs who are currently studying in various universities and institutions in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. An online questionnaire based survey was conducted among students of the age group 17 – 23. It assessed the participants’ perception about people with tattoos and their future employability. The questionnaire contained 17 questions and was divided into 2 sections. The first section contained demographic questions regarding the participants’ age, religion, gender, nationality, career, and whether the subject has tattoo and its influencer. The second section was to assess the participants’ perception towards people with tattoos and perception on its effect on their future employment. Page 4 of 12 A telephonic interview was also conducted with all the participants and the information shared by them was taken into consideration for the discussion of results. Further, the result were interpreted using appropriate statistical tools. Results and Discussion A total of 70 college students from different programs who are currently studying in various universities and institutions in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Among 70 college students, 33 (47.14%) are male and 37 (52.86%) are female. Of the total subjects, only 4 (5.71%) reported of having tattoo/s presented in Table 1. Table I: Percentage of Young Adults with Tattoos 94.29 100 50 5.71 0 With Tattoos Without Tattoos Of the 4 participants who reported of having tattoos, all of them (100%) indicated that deciding to get inked was a (5.71%) ‘Personal Choice’ which represents “loving bond between mother and daughter”, “good looking”, “freedom and God-related”, and “signifies power”. In addition, of the 66 participants who reported of not having tattoos, 41 (58.57%) indicated that deciding not to get inked was a ‘Personal Choice’, presented in Table 2. Also, 19 (27.14%) participants of not having tattoos indicated that deciding not to get inked was ‘Others’, which comprised relating to religion and planning to get inked in the future. Table II: Q. Decision on getting inked 80 60 40 20 0 58.57 27.14 5.71 0 Personal Choice 8.57 Family Concerns With Tattoos 0 Others (Religion and Get One in the Future) Without Tattoos Page 5 of 12 Table III showed that from the sample, among 4 tattooed participants, all of them answered ‘Yes’ to the question, “Have you considered your future career before deciding to get inked?”. Surprisingly, their programmes are Forensic Science, Fashion Design, and Medical related course. Of the non-tattooed participants, 42 (60%) of them answered ‘No’, that they did not consider their career before deciding not to get inked higher than 23 (32.85%) of them answered ‘Yes’, that they did consider their future career before deciding not to get inked. Table III. Q. Consideration of career before getting inked 100 60 32.85 50 5.71 0 1.42 0 0 YES NO With Tattoos NEUTRAL Without Tattoos Among 4 tattooed students, 3 (75%) answered ‘Yes’ that people with tattoos are experiencing ‘bias in hiring process’, and 4 (100%) answered ‘Yes’ that people with tattoos are ‘easily get judged in an employment’ and ‘colleague won’t be comfortable working with them’. Refer to Table IV. In terms of work performance, 3 (75%) answered ‘No’ that people with tattoos have no ‘limitations on employability’ and also not a ‘hindrance on promotion’, higher than who answered ‘Yes’ that tattoo is a factor on employability. Table IV: Perception of Tattooed Students Towards People with Tattoos on Employment 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 100 100 75 75 25 25 25 0 Bias on Hiring Process 75 Easily get judged 0 Limitations on Colleague won't Hindrance on Employability be comfortable Promotion YES NO Among 66 non-tattooed students, 44 (66.67%) answered ‘Yes’ that people with tattoos are experiencing ‘bias in hiring process’ higher than 22 (33.33%) who said ‘No’. Refer to Table V. Page 6 of 12 49 (74.24%) answered ‘Yes’ that people with tattoos are ‘easily get judged in an employment’ and 53 (80.30%) answered ‘Yes’ that ‘colleague won’t be comfortable working with’ people with tattoos. Both questions gathered higher percentage compared to those who answered ‘No’. In terms of work performance, 42 (63.64%) answered ‘No’ that people with tattoos have no ‘limitations on employability’ and 24 (36.36%) believed that it does. 33 (50%) answered ‘No’ that having a tattoo does not something to do with promotion on employment but 22 (33.33%) believed that it is a factor. 11 (16.66%) answered ‘Maybe or Neutral’, because of some considerations such as visibility and size of tattoo, company policy, depending on the career or profession, and tattoos has a bad image. Table V: Perception of Non-Tattooed Students Towards People with Tattoos on Employment 100 80 60 40 20 0 80.3 74.24 66.67 63.64 50 33.33 16.66 36.36 33.33 0 Bias on Hiring Process 19.7 18.18 7.57 Easily get judged YES 0 0 Limitations on Colleague won't Hindrance on Employability be comfortable Promotion NO NEUTRAL Refer to Table VI. Among 70 students of both tattooed and non-tattooed, majority perceived that people with tattoos experienced bias on hiring process, got easily judged, and their future colleague won’t be comfortable working with them. In contrast, most of them believed that having a tattoo/s does not limit someone to get employed and will not be a hindrance on employment promotion. Page 7 of 12 Table VI: Perception Towards People with Tattoos in relation to Employment 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 81.43 75.71 67.14 64.29 51.43 35.71 32.86 0 Bias on Hiring Process 18.57 17.14 7.14 Easily get judged YES 32.86 0 15.71 0 Limitations on Colleague won't Hindrance on Employability be compfortable Promotion NO NEUTRAL This study intended to gather perception of young adults if they have considered their future career employability before deciding to get and not to get inked, and the factors underlying it. The percentage of tattooed young adults was low however, according to research, there was an increase prevalence of tattoos among young people [10]. Based on the study of Brallier et al. (2011), the researchers interviewed 192 managers employed at restaurants in South Carolina and investigated by showing them resume and photography of a potential candidate. The results suggested that employers view visible tattoos negatively with respect in the food service industry. Employers perceived non-tattooed females more employable than both tattooed males and females, while non-tattooed males show no such significant difference. This study examined the meaning and appropriateness of highly masculine and highly feminine tattoos on salespeople in two industries. The result said that tattooed people trust and are more willing to work with tattooed salespeople than non-tattooed people. However, customers trust and are more willing to work with saleswomen who have feminine tattoos. Customers likely make an initial judgment about the salesperson based on the presence or absence of tattoos (Arndt et al. 2012). Hilliker (2011) examined the stigmas placed on individuals with tattoos in the workplace. Appropriateness of tattoos in white and blue collar professions was measured. Also, size and visibility of tattoos were factors in identifying attitudes. The researcher concluded that the study found no differences in attitude toward individuals with and without tattoos in the workplace. Page 8 of 12 This study surveyed 70 college students from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Out of these, 4 (5.71%) of the participants reported to have tattoos and all of them indicated that the decision or consent of getting inked is by ‘Personal Choice’. This coheres to the recent studies, among tattooed individuals, majority of the participants was consented themselves to have tattoos [1, 3, 18]. Also, the most protruding reasons of getting one was related to its symbolic personal meaning and significant memory [10]. In this study, most of the young adults (94.28%) don’t have tattoos and they were restricted by parents, religion, and others were planning to obtain one in the future. Nontattooed young adults in this study were open to the thought of acquiring a tattoo in the future if the motives of having a tattoo is personal [10, 17]. The research findings reveal that among the tattooed young adults, they have considered their future career and employability before getting inked. This means that they were all confident enough to get a job considering their permanent marks, although research evidences said that visible tattoos have limits on employment and most employers will hire a non-tattooed candidates [6, 13]. Moving forward, other employers from hospitality industry believed that tattooed people are not permitted if they have visible tattoos, they are not allowed in service staff, and not considered to be in the best interest [14]. In contrast, most of the non-tattooed young adults, they have considered their future career and employability before not to get inked even if 49 (75%) of their friends are having tattoos. With this, the study concluded that there was a less influence of peers in terms of getting tattoo. The current study found that among tattooed and non-tattooed young adults, they perceived that people’s impressions toward tattooed people are negative. All of them indicated that there was a significant difference between tattooed and non-tattooed people on (a.) employers being bias on hiring process (b.) people will judge them because of their tattoos, and (c.) future colleague won’t be comfortable working with tattooed people. In congruent to the result, non-tattooed people saw tattooed people as less attractive, less presentable, and less respectful in the workplace[19]. However, research evidence said that hiring process should be constructed on job qualifications, skills, and potentials, and tattoos should not be the deciding factor [8]. On the other hand, tattooed and non-tattooed young adults believed that tattoos won’t limit their employability and it won’t be a hindrance on their employment promotion. They believed that having tattoo was not a basis to measure employee’s work productivity and job performance in a Page 9 of 12 company. Also, they were aware of the factors such as visibility and size of tattoo can be an issue to employability and it depends on the company policy and company’s field of business. Interview screening process should be consistent to what is the company’s standard recruitment process while reducing the bias and negative attributes of having tattoos [8]. Although, other research revealed that there was no negative traits toward tattooed people in the workplace [19]. Conclusion and Limitations Through the survey, the researcher discovered that even in the modern society and innovation in the world, the perception towards tattooed people never changed. Considering the practice of tattooing is widespread in different countries, tattooed people received judgment, biases, and limitations on employment. Most of the participants with and without tattoos did not consider their future career whether to get and not to get inked. This can be an indicator to spread awareness to young adults about the disadvantages of having tattoo in employment especially those position or job who has direct contact with the customers or clients. In terms of skills and work performance, the study concluded that having tattoos should not be a factor during the hiring process and promotion instead focus on the job qualifications and work productivity. The limitations of this study include a low number of respondents which could affect the prevalence of tattoos and results of this study. With that, there was a low number of respondents with tattoos which would also limit the study’s objective to acquire tattooed person’s perception on their employability. The study mostly rely on the perceptions of non-tattooed persons. However, the results on tattoos and employability were consistent on both tattooed and nontattooed persons. Future research should investigate more of these topics as the world is changing so as the workplace and perception on tattoos. Key Learnings The researcher learned that the perception of the society on tattooed individuals is still the same from the previous decades. It is slowly affecting the other factor of the being of the person including employment. 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