Running head: Need for Uniqueness and the Perceptions of ...



Running head: Need for Uniqueness and the Perceptions of the Personality Attributes of the Tattooed Individual

Need for Uniqueness and the Perceptions of the Personality

Attributes of the Tattooed Individual

Molly B. Cook

Minnesota State University Moorhead

Abstract

This study was concerned with how individuals perceive others with tattoo work. Specifically, the relationship between an individual’s level of Need for Uniqueness and ratings of the personality characteristics of an individual with tattoo body art was examined. Essentially, Snyder and Fromkin (1977) conceptualized individuals with high Need for Uniqueness as being willing to resist conformity pressures and valuing expressions of differentness relative to other people. The inference made in this study was: if individuals have a high need for uniqueness on a personal level, they should also view expressions of uniqueness on other individuals more positively and therefore judge them accordingly. It was hypothesized that the participants who scored higher on the Need for Uniqueness Scale would give a picture of a tattooed woman more positive personality ratings than would participants who score lower on the scale.

Need for Uniqueness: A Positive Psychology Approach to Understanding

The Perceptions of Tattooed Individuals

In the last 30 years, tattoo body art has become increasingly prominent the Northern American population with an estimated 20 million adults with tattoos. Both genders are about equal in having this form of body modification (Fredrick & Bradley, 2000). The incidence of college students with tattoos is also increasing. As much as 25% of traditional college-age students are estimated to have tattoos, thus many studies have focused on college student’s motivations to get a tattoo (Greif, Hewitt, & Armstrong, 1999). Along with this increase in tattoo body art comes the social implications of this seemingly stigmatized form of self-expression. Degelman and Price (2002) found evidence of the negative judgments made of tattooed individuals by investigating how participants rank (using 13 personal characteristics) a picture of both tattooed and nontattooed female. The participants ranked the tattooed female lower (more negatively) than the non-tattooed female on 9 of the 13 personal characteristics. The fact that negative judgments are made of tattooed individuals, like the female in Degelman and Price’s (2002) study, is unfortunate, because these judgments can be detrimental to a tattooed person’s ability to thrive in society. Such negative judgments made about tattooed people’s personal characteristics, such as personality attributes, is not supported by evidence; in fact, tattooed and pierced people are more similar than dissimilar to peers (without body modifications) in normal, psychological health and functioning (Fredrick & Bradley, 2000). With the prominence of both tattoo body art and negative judgments of body art being noted, it is clear that gaining a further understanding of both the motivations behind acquiring tattoos and the perceptions and judgments made of tattooed individuals is a worthwhile and relevant endeavor.

The motivational theory examined in this research is a positive psychology theory, proposed by Snyder and Fromkin (1977), called, Need for Uniqueness. In previous research on motivations, this theory has been shown to be a motivational dimension present in a significant number of tattooed participant’s (Millner & Eichhold, 2001; Tiggeman & Golder, 2006). Hence, the goals of this research is to gain a greater understanding of Need for Uniqueness as a motivation to get tattoo body art, as well as understand how participant’s (with and without body art) level of Need for Uniqueness relates to how they perceive and subsequently rank individuals who have tattoos.

Snyder and Fromkin (1977) described their Need for Uniqueness theory as a positive expression of differentness relative to other people. It is theorized that individuals avoid the aversive feelings, which come about from perceiving either extreme similarity or extreme dissimilarity to others, by establishing their own moderate level of self-distinctiveness or differentness from other people. When an individual achieves their “optimal” level of uniqueness, they experience increased self-esteem (Lynn & Snyder, 2002). Hence, this theory, as applied to tattooed individuals, means that these individuals are positively motivated to present themselves as distinct or more artistically creative in appearance compared to average people (It is important to note that this motivational interpretation may only apply to Western society which this theory is extracted from). An important characteristic of this theory is the replacement of the terms abnormal and deviance, which are common terms used in research dealing with tattoos, with the term uniqueness. The term uniqueness highlights the main idea of this theory, which is that this motivation for distinctiveness and creativity is not to be viewed as either maladaptive or pathological in nature, as the terms deviance and abnormal suggest.

Snyder and Fromkin (1977) also theorized that there are dispositional differences in individual levels of Need for uniqueness; therefore, the level of this motivation varies from person to person; individuals can be anywhere on a low to high continuum of this motivational dimension. Individuals can also manifest uniqueness in an infinite amount of ways and will seek to be unique in attributes that are applicable to their concepts of self, which can involve cultural and social influences.

Support for the occurrence of the Need for Uniqueness motivation can be seen in the results of the following studies, in which, each study manipulated the level of similarity of the conditions. In all of these studies, participants were exposed to high and low similarity conditions. Participants in high similarity/high conformity conditions produced several manifestations of uniqueness, such as, producing more unique uses for a common object (Fromkin, 1968), expressing more desire for novel experiences unavailable to other participants in the same study (Fromkin, 1970), and creating more physical distance between themselves and other participants (Duval, 1972). Participants in this type of conformity research also evidenced personality change, in which the participants displayed an increased desire for dissimilarity (Snyder, Smith, & Batson, 1974). These studies all dealt with situational effects on participant’s uniqueness manifestations. Snyder and Fromkin pointed out that the uniqueness motivation appears to also be controlled by dispositional differences in participants; this is why participants in research tend to vary in degree of this uniqueness motivation.

Creativity is yet another way an individual can manifest their distinctiveness, when motivated by Need for Uniqueness. Dollinger (2003) examined the relationship between Need for Uniqueness and creativity, where both Need for Uniqueness and cognitions are theorized to contribute to creativity. Participants completed several measures to assess creativity, including preference for complex visual figures, an inventory for creative accomplishments, unconventional vs. popular word associations, and consensually assessed creative products. Participant’s level of Need for Uniqueness was assessed by having them complete the Need for Uniqueness Scale, developed by Snyder and Fromkin (1977). Participant’s level of Need for Uniqueness, independently, contributed to their measures of creativity. In another study on creativity, conducted by Drews, Allison, and Probst (2000), 235 tattooed, college-student participants gave themselves self-concept ratings, using a series of bipolar adjectives on a 7-point scale. Creativity was one of the most frequently chosen adjectives amongst the participants. These participants also frequently rated themselves as artistic. Both of theses studies with Need for Uniqueness and creativity reveal a positive relationship between participant’s Need for Uniqueness scores and subsequent levels of creativity, as well as participant’s self-perceptions of being creative. This relationship makes sense, when applied to one’s motivations to get a tattoo; tattooing is a creative and artistic way to differentiate one’s appearance from others. Creative expression in appearance is ultimately individual and personal and therefore a very suitable medium for one’s differentiating process.

From the studies examined, thus far, it can be said that, Need for Uniqueness is a real motivational factor, that occurs when individuals face the discomfort of feeling undifferentiated from others in conformist situations. It can also be said and that tattooing is a creative way to accomplish one’s desire for uniqueness. The following studies have explored a more direct link between Need for Uniqueness and tattooed participants level of this motivation. In a correlational study conducted by Millner and Eichold, II (2001), 81 participants (all with either tattoos or piercings) completed a self-report questionnaire, The Body Art Survey. This survey was developed to assess the participant’s personal observations and encounters with piercings and tattoos. The majority of tattooed participants reported that their motivation for getting a tattoo was for an expression of individuality (40%) or for art/creativity (23%). The percentages for the participants with piercings were 62% for individuality and 43% for art/creativity. The survey dimensions of individuality, art, and creativity coincide with the Need for Uniqueness theory. The motivation for “individuality” is, in essence, the same as an individuals drive to be unique; both individuality and uniqueness express the desire to be conceptualize oneself as set apart from and as distinct from others.

This next study also looks at the direct relationship between acquiring a tattoo and participant’s levels of Need for Uniqueness as a motivator. Tiggeman and Golder (2006) examined participant’s motivations to acquire a tattoo by using the Need for Uniqueness Scale developed by Snyder and Fromkin (1977). Their study explored tattooing as an expression of uniqueness in the appearance domain. There were 100 participants investigated in this study; 50 of them had tattoos and 50 were a control group with no tattoos. All participants completed the Need for Uniqueness Scale; the tattooed participants scored significantly higher than the no-tattoo control group on the scale. It is also interesting to note that, the no-tattoo participant’s need for uniqueness scores predicted the future likelihood of those participants getting a tattoo. This fact reveals the directionality of the relationship between acquiring tattoos and Need for Uniqueness, which is, increased Need for Uniqueness is not a product of having a tattoo but rather a part of the motivational basis in acquiring a tattoo (Tiggemann & Golder, 2006). The results of this study lend robust support for the existence of Need for Uniqueness as a motivator to acquire tattoos.

Summary

The Need for Uniqueness Theory, proposed by Snyder and Fromkin (1997), is a motivational dimension present in a number of studies involving individual creativity and tattooed individuals. Millner and Eichhold’s (2001) correlational study yielded data that supported the need for Uniqueness Theory of motivation with 40% of tattooed participants reporting “individuality” (uniqueness) as being their motivation to get a tattoo. Snyder and Fromkin’s (1977) Need for Uniqueness scale was used in Tiggeman and Golder’s (2006) study, which concluded that tattooed participants have significantly higher Need for Uniqueness scores than non-tattooed participants. Thus, Need for Uniqueness is positively related to the tattooed participants tolerance and motivation to acquire this type of body modification. It follows that participant’s who have high Need for Uniqueness scores should have more tolerance for tattoo body art. This relationship will be applied to the investigation of how participant’s own Need for Uniqueness scores influence their perceptions of tattooed individuals. Thus, it is hypothesized that participants (tattooed and not tattooed) who score high on the Need for Uniqueness Scale will give photos of tattooed individuals more positive ratings than participants who score low in the scale.

References

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