Marked inside and out: an exploration of perceived stigma of the tattooed in the workplace

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-06-2018-0101
• Pages: 87-106
• Published date: 11 February 2019
• Date: 11 February 2019
• Author: Jennifer L. Flanagan,Vance Johnson Lewis
• Subject Matter: Hr & organizational behaviour,Employment law

Marked inside and out: an

exploration of perceived stigma of

the tattooed in the workplace

Jennifer L. Flanagan

College of Business, Texas Women’s University, Denton, Texas, USA, and

Vance Johnson Lewis

Department of Marketing and Management, College of Business,

University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas, USA

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to gain better understanding of the attitudes toward those with

tattoo(s) –by both those with and without tattoos –within the workplace. Specifically, this paper works to

gain better understanding of attitudes toward those within specific employment and workplace groups.

Design/methodology/approach –This study utilized a self-administered Likert scaled original survey

through a combined random and snowball sampling method. Results were analyzed using quantitative

statistical analysis based on responses to attitudinal questions and demographic factors.

Findings –The results of this study indicate that negative attitudes toward tattoos are diminishing, and that

there is an ever shrinking gap in negative attitudes between those with and those without tattoos.

Research limitations/implications –While intended to be an exploratory exercise, this study may have

been limited by the participant base. Even with a high number of responses, the random and snowball

sampling of the participants may have resulted in clusters of data which may not be transferable across the

population. Future studies should seek more closed collection of the data within specific organizations or

controlled participant groups.

Originality/value –This study makes a new contribution to the literature as it is one of the first studies to

specifically ask those with tattoos how they feel about others with tattoos. It is also one of the first academic

articles, rather than journalistic, which explores attitudes toward tattoos within specific organizations.

Keywords Discrimination,Inclusion,Stereotypes,Humanresources,Social identity, Tattoos, Hir ingp ractices

Paper type Research paper

It was 1972 and you didn’t really go around showing tattoos or talking about them. I just had one,

you know. And now all of the sudden it has become the thing to do.

American entertainment legend Cher. (Penders, 1992).

The modern global marketembraces or at least claims to embrace, employees and customers

from all walks of life as the competition for both skilled employees and loyal customers

intensifies. With the ever-changing demographics of the modern workplace, and with more

than 159m individuals in the USA’workforce (US Department of Labor, 2017), one could

assume that these individuals each bring with them their own distinct contributions to the

ever-evolving idea of diversity. While there is little which can refute the social benefits of

diversity,a debate does exist as to whetherdiversity enhances or hindersworkplace outcomes

and interactions (e.g. D’Netto et al., 2014; Washington, 1993; Williams, 2017).

While traditional views of diversity have long included race, religion and creed, today’s

society has progressed to include characteristics such as age, gender identity and sexual

orientation, disability status and socio-economic status within the idea of diversity. Forms of

body modification, with tattoos at the forefront, have also gained attention as not only a

means of self-expression but also as a growing subculture. Though tattoos have historically

been considered part of the counterculture in America (Schwarz, 2006), today they have

gained more acceptance and increased in popularity. There are tattooed people in all

industries, all position levels, and of all races, genders and ages.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 38 No. 1, 2019

pp. 87-106

© Emerald PublishingLimited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-06-2018-0101

Received 8 March 2018

Revised 23 June 2018

9 August 2018

Accepted 15 August 2018

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-7149.htm

87

Marked inside

and out

There is no guarantee, however, that the individuals with whom one comes in contact

during their daily work or personal activities will embrace the expressions of individuality

which tattoos represent. For organizations, a conflict arises when attempting to balance the

needs of diversity, the expressions of individuals within the organization and the

perceptions of customers/constituents of the organization (e.g. Kramer, 2006; Martin and

Cairns, 2015; Williams et al., 2014) particularly where tattoos are concerned. This conflict

raises a number of questions: should employees with visible tattoos be treated any

differently than those categorized by race, gender or other characteristics such as eye and

hair color? At what point does self-expression take precedent over employer and customer

expectations, or societal demands? What do patrons of businesses really think about those

in different industries and in different roles? Are there certain industries where tattoos are

not appropriate? Should tattoos be totally forbidden? This paper works to give insight into

the answer to these questions.

Purpose and significance

Research on diversity management issues, as well as issues in employee individuality,

self-expression, and lifestyle choices, has been preoccupied with very specific characteristics

and categories of diversity, such as gender, race, culture and religion, often glancing over, if

not totally ignoring, some of the more common, marginal forms of self-expression that are

more likely to impact the “average”employee, such as tattoos, piercings, and even more

overarching stigmas involving gender identity, mainly due to a historical, pre-conceived

understanding of what categories matter more in the workplace, and thus skimming over, if

not totally ignoring, those less historically-studied areas (Ozturk and Tatli, 2016). To

support this idea, though a multitude of studies have been made on tattoos in general,

essentially none, to the researchers’findings, have looked at the attitudes of tattoos in the

workplace by those who themselves have tattoos. This lack of research on more atypical

areas of focus has resulted in little to no theoretical understanding and no diversity

management trends or policies on this very important issue.

If reports, as indicated in previous studies of both academic and journalistic natures, are

true that the number of individuals with tattoos are increasing then understanding the voice

of this population is of the utmost importance in understanding the totality of the issue of

tattoos in the workplace. The purpose of this study then is to look at the issue of tattoos in

the workplace through the comparison of those who have tattoos and those who do not. The

significance of this study is not just that it is one of the first to look at the attitudes toward

tattoos in the workplace through the eyes of those who have tattoos but also that it extends

the research study of this subject to better understand the impact of having tattoos on one’s

thoughts toward others who have tattoos. Also, this study works to provide one of the first

foundational studies of tattoos in an organization setting in the academic, rather than

journalistic, realm. By gaining a better understanding of this population, organizations can

better ascertain and structure their hiring practices, inclusionary activities, customer

expectations and organizational culture.

Review of literature

Popularity of tattooing

Tattoos are not a new practice in society or in the history of the human existence. Humans

have been tattooing their bodies for at least 50 centuries, with evidence tracing as far back

as 3000 BC showing tattooing in the cultures of Africa, Americas, Asia, Oceania and Europe

with tattooing ranging from social group status to religious affiliations (Gritton, 1988;

Gathercole, 1988; Jonaitis, 1988; Schildkrout, 2004). Tattoos have long been associated

with a culture’s military (Sanders, 1989), the working class (Sanders, 1989), the Gay,

Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender movement (Pitts, 2003), along with bikers and inmates

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