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

## TL;DR

The study found that people with tattoos, especially those with more tattooed body surface area, tend to have higher levels of certain maladaptive personality traits like Disinhibition and Antagonism.

## Contribution

This study introduces the use of tattooed body surface area (tBSA) as a more sensitive measure than tattoo count for linking personality traits with tattooing behavior.

## Key findings

- Tattooed individuals scored higher on Disinhibition and overall maladaptive traits compared to non-tattooed individuals.
- Tattooed body surface area (tBSA) was more strongly correlated with Antagonism and Disinhibition than tattoo count.
- Antagonism alone explained a significant portion of the variance in tBSA, even after controlling for demographic factors.

## 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.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-42987-x.