- September 14, 2018
- Life style
- Plugatareva Yana
Nowadays, many people get tattoos because they are beautiful and fashionable, but few people think about their meaning. Why do people get tattoos? Psychology has its own answer, which is quite interesting. It turns out that a tattoo can mean a certain symbol that can change a person’s life. Let's look at the most common reasons why people get tattoos.
What is a tattoo
People have been decorating their bodies with all sorts of designs since time immemorial. Once upon a time, such a picture contained information about a person, his social status, tribal membership, etc. Gradually, the functions of tattoos lost their meaning. It has become simply an art form. When tattoo machines were invented, drawing on the body became available to anyone.
Why do people get tattoos
In psychology, there are several factors that influence the desire to make a drawing on your body. Among them:
- Thirst for self-expression.
- Search for new sensations.
- The desire to hide flaws.
- A way to deal with complexes.
- The desire to attract attention and stand out in your social group.
As we can see, psychology explains quite well why people get tattoos, but there is also a much more mundane reason. A person may simply try to cover up the previous one with a new tattoo. Both the master (poorly executed) and the client (didn’t think through the drawing) can be to blame for a bad image. Not all people go to immediately cover up a tattoo; some try to add something to the drawing to get a presentable look. Most often, such experiments bring the client back to the master’s chair, but in order to completely cover the drawing.
Daria, 23 years old
I got my first tattoo in January two years ago. I really like a beautiful body, filled with bright or black and white designs in unusual techniques, done with taste.
I looked through hundreds of sketches, I wanted my tattoo to have a meaning that was important to me, but I was in no hurry to go to the tattoo parlor. Something constantly stopped me: the lack of an ideal sketch, money, a quality salon, a master you can trust, and the fear of pain. I was prompted by the desire to surprise my boyfriend. He was away, and I decided to surprise him. I took the first design of roses that I liked on the Internet, called my tattoo artist friend and came for an appointment. The tattoo was done on the ankle - not the most painful place, and the design was black and white flowers using the dot-work technique.
I remember how I felt when the needle first touched the skin: my whole body froze in anticipation of pain, and I held my breath. But everything turned out to be not so scary.
The feeling is tolerable, but the closer to the end of the session, the more painful it becomes. The ichor is released, and the skin becomes irritated and sensitive, so hitting it becomes unpleasant. At the end of the work, I realized that I would come here again, because there is something in this pain, I want to endure it as quickly as possible, but in the end I will experience it again.
Already in March 2015 I returned again. This time I had a blue rose on my chest near my shoulder. It hurts more to hit here than on the leg, but again, I enjoy this pain. Black ink is poured with one needle, but for color they use another device with several needles. Therefore, coloring a tattoo is always much more painful than applying an outline. Considering that color is always added at the end, the most acute pain came at the moment when the skin was already striped with contour.
In the summer of that year, I decided to add some more designs to my flower so that they would go along the collarbone and go down the back. This time, the revelation for me was that updating an old tattoo is much more painful than a new one.
I really love my tattoos, even though they don’t have any meaning - just beautiful flowers. After three sessions, I realized that I am one of those people who find it difficult to stop and stop hammering their body. If I had money, I would continue for the sake of the acute sensation of pain.
Why do girls get tattoos?
When we talk about factors influencing the desire to have a tattoo, we are talking about men. Women are guided by their logic. The most common reasons for girls are as follows:
- In the name of love. When a girl is in love, she wants to prove to her man that she is ready to do anything for him. For some, a tattoo is also included in the concept of “everything”.
- This is how their beliefs manifest themselves. Mostly teenagers suffer from this. They believe that with the help of a tattoo they will be able to defend their faith or some special views on life.
- Another reason why women get tattoos is explained by psychology as masking imperfections. These may be some kind of scars or scars that do not adorn the body. But not everyone understands that stretching of scars is inevitable, so image adjustments will be needed.
- Because it's fashionable. There are also people who blindly follow fashion, without thinking about the appropriateness of the action or its meaning.
- Because my girlfriends (favorite actress or actor, lover, etc.) have tattoos.
Oksana, 22 years old
I am a modest person by nature and had a negative attitude towards tattoos, but everything changed after the birth of my baby. There was an ugly scar on my stomach after a caesarean section.
Such scars are practically impossible to laser resurfacing, and I decided that applying a beautiful pattern would be the best and most painless solution. To hide the skin defect, I needed to be patient. You cannot apply a tattoo to a fresh scar. I waited about a year until the scar finally healed and turned white. Covering the scar with a tattoo turned out to be easy and not very painful. By the way, my husband completely approved of my decision. An ugly defect turned into my highlight, a unique decoration. The result in the form of a yellow lily has been pleasing me for several months now. I consciously chose the lily, because this flower represents purity, glory, and nobility. This extraordinary tattoo emphasizes my tenderness and fragility and looks very aesthetically pleasing.
Tattoos for teenagers
Why do young people get tattoos? Because of the desire to demonstrate their own autonomy and independence. An important role is also played by the fact that the owner of the tattoo will stand out sharply among his peers. As soon as a teenager gets a drawing on his body, he begins to feel superior, because he has something that others do not yet have. After some time, everyone gets used to his tattoo. Then the teenager makes another one, this time larger or more significant. If he fails to stop in time, then an innocent hobby can transform into an addiction.
Afterword
You cannot think one-sidedly and classify all tattoo owners as unhealthy people or slaves of fashion. Yes, for some, a tattoo becomes the meaning of life, the only thing that keeps a person in this world. This is its purpose, meaning, value. And for some, a tattoo is self-help, psychotherapy, a reminder of something significant. Someone else simply treats it as jewelry, clothing. In order to more accurately say what motivates a person to be passionate about tattoo art, it is necessary to analyze his overall lifestyle, work, environment, characteristics of relationships with friends and family, and other hobbies.
Compensation
Why do people get tattoos? Psychology provides the answer to this question. A tattoo serves as a compensator or supplement. When a person decides to get a tattoo, he wants to add some character traits to himself or emphasize existing ones. This could be attractiveness, aggression, wisdom, leadership, love of freedom. Subconsciously, both men and women choose tattoos based on these principles. Indeed, in some cases, a tattoo helps you look more attractive. And for a man, a tattoo can add a little brutality.
With the appearance of a tattoo, a person’s self-esteem and self-confidence increase. This behavior is typical of the hysterical type of people who can use a tattoo simply to attract attention to themselves.
Vika, 17 years old
During exams I always get thirteenth tickets; I live on the 13th floor. The number 13 seems to haunt me throughout my life. I've read that some people develop triskaidekaphobia, a morbid fear of the number 13. This fear is considered a superstition historically associated with religious superstitions. Many hotels in the world do not have a 13th floor: 12, and then immediately 14. Some planes do not have a 13th floor.
I tattooed the number 13 on my wrist to show that superstitions do not play any role in my life.
I had to put in a lot of effort to convince my parents to agree to the tattoo. Many middle-aged and mature people have developed a negative attitude towards tattoos, and now I try not to react to the sidelong glances of teachers and lecturers. I wanted to stand out from the crowd, put a bright symbol of audacity on my body - and I succeeded.
Protection
Why do people get tattoos? They try to protect their personality from external influences. Also, a person can try, with the help of a drawing on the body, to “curb” those character traits of his personality that are unpleasant to him. The same principle can be seen in beard fashion. In our world, women and men have equalized their functions, so guys try to emphasize their masculinity with a beard.
Catalyst
Why do they get tattoos? To get out of some protracted state. For many people, getting a tattoo means making a decision or beginning a life change. Indeed, such drawings can become a catalyst for human desires and decision-making.
Psychologists warn that such motivation can develop into addiction. Today a person needs one thing, so he tattooed such a design on his body. tomorrow he will need another, so a new image appears on his body. Ultimately, a person can no longer imagine his existence without new tattoos. It becomes a disease. There are individuals (both men and women) whose tattoos decorate every centimeter of skin on all parts of the body, including the face.
Mila, 26 years old
I love everything modern and unusual. A year ago, designers from the UK managed to create a line of unusual tattoos that have the ability to “come to life.” Since I am currently studying in London, implementing this idea turned out to be as easy as shelling pears. Of course, this new product is expensive, but it fully met my expectations.
I chose a tattoo with the image of a dragon, since the dragon simultaneously represents all the elements: sky, earth, water and air. I heard somewhere that the image of a dragon on a woman’s body signifies wealth, mystery, wisdom, longevity and strength. Although I think that such a tattoo is suitable for any person, regardless of gender, age and occupation. After applying the design to my ankle, I installed a special application on my mobile phone: when I bring the smartphone to the tattoo, the design “comes to life.” The dragon can “move” and even “sound.” Looking at this unusual tattoo, I am happy like a child.
Identification
The psychology of a tattoo also lies in the fact that it helps to identify in modern society. Now there are a lot of opportunities for implementation, and therefore a person is at a loss and does not know what to do with himself. By getting a tattoo of a certain symbol or design, he can show others what he is all about. In addition, there are medical tattoos that are applied to the body by people suffering from certain ailments, for example, asthma, epilepsy. This is done for cases of seizures, so that others and doctors can immediately understand what happened to the person.
Power over yourself
The psychology of tattoos calls power over oneself as one of the reasons for the desire to decorate one’s own body. In this way, a person shows that he has the right to do whatever he wants with his body. This is a kind of rebellion that often manifests itself in insecure people.
The same reason can be attributed to the desire to show that the young man no longer belongs to his parents. And if in his youth his parents forbade his child to experiment with his appearance, then he will almost certainly get a tattoo as soon as he feels the taste of freedom.
By the way, this is a reason to think about the harm of parental overprotection.
Social groups
Previously, tattoos were made to make it clear which social group a person belongs to. For example, warriors had one tattoo, slaves had another. This also includes the meaning of a tattoo. Particular attention is paid to interpretation in Japan, where the bearer of a tattoo is automatically equated with a certain social group. Nowadays, some (especially teenagers) get tattoos accepted in certain circles of society in order to be accepted in them.
Why you should give up tattoos
There are several reasons why you shouldn't get a tattoo. We will list them all, and you decide for yourself whether to get a tattoo or not:
- You should not get designs on your skin when you are young. The point is not that minors are not given it, but that over time, views and priorities change. You may regret something you once did.
- If you approach a tattoo unconsciously, over time it will begin to cause irritation. Think carefully about what exactly should decorate your body.
- If you have skin diseases or many moles, it is better not to get a tattoo. This also applies to allergy sufferers.
- A tattoo can only be done if you are feeling well. Even a slight increase in temperature is a reason to refuse a visit to the specialist. In addition, make sure that the instruments are sterile, otherwise you can get a number of unpleasant diseases.
- Getting a tattoo hurts. Of course, everyone's experience is different, but don't expect your procedure to be painless.
- The tattoo is quite difficult to remove. After this, unsightly scars and spots remain on the skin.
- Be prepared for the fact that not all people are loyal to tattoos. Some still have the belief that only those who have been in prison wear tattoos.
- With age, the skin sags, so a tattoo may lose its outline and meaning.
- Not every company's managers are loyal to tattoos. In some places they will simply show you the door, despite all your skills and merits.
- To get a really beautiful tattoo, you need a lot of money. If they are not there, then it is better to refuse a cheap drawing.
- There is no need to exclude the possibility of an allergy to paints.
- There is an opinion among doctors that tattoos reduce the functioning of the immune system and contribute to the occurrence of skin cancer.
- Rarely does anyone stop at one tattoo; many become dependent on body designs.
