A groundbreaking psychology study published in the Journal of Research in Personality has uncovered that people around the world—including potentially in Thailand—tend to make strong, consistent judgments about a person’s personality based solely on their tattoos, but these assessments are usually inaccurate. Only tattoos judged to be particularly “wacky” or unusual line up, to a modest degree, with reality: such tattoos are linked with higher openness to new experiences, according to the researchers (PsyPost).
In today’s Thailand, where decorative and symbolic tattoos appear frequently among urban youth, tourists, and even religious devotees, this finding holds particular relevance. As tattoos gain in popularity—mirroring trends in the United States, where about one in three adults now have body art—this research exposes how deeply stereotypes persist, even as the art form’s cultural meanings broaden.
The research team, led by an associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University, set out to rigorously test whether beliefs about tattooed individuals’ personalities have any basis in fact—and if knowing the meaning behind the art helps. Rather than lumping all tattooed people together, the researchers surveyed 274 adults with a wide range of tattoos, collecting both photographs and the personal significance behind each piece. The study, unusually, relied on a lens model, an analytical framework for mapping the cues observers use and measuring whether these cues are valid signals of personality traits.
A group of 30 psychology raters—including university students and professors—were asked to evaluate each tattooed individual’s personality using images, and in some cases, accompanying personal interpretations. Their task was to guess levels of agreeableness, extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism—the five major personality dimensions—based solely on the visual or visual-plus-narrative cues.
The key discovery: when observers view tattoos, they tend to agree on what each tattoo “means,” forming a surprisingly consistent consensus about its wearer’s personality. Cheerful, colorful tattoos were often linked to assumptions of agreeableness; large, traditional designs to extraversion; and tattoos with death-related or “low-quality” imagery to neuroticism. Yet, when scientists cross-checked these impressions with how the tattooed individuals described themselves, the supposed links dissolved.
Only one personality trait—openness to experience—showed even a modest alignment between observer judgments and self-reported character. Specifically, tattoos observers rated as “wacky” truly made it more likely the wearer valued creativity, adventure, and open-mindedness. For all other traits, such as agreeableness or conscientiousness, the cues that raters used (like tattoo size or symbolism) bore little or even a negative relationship to actual personality. In plain terms, judgments about rebelliousness, risk-taking, or emotional stability based on tattoos were not only unreliable, but sometimes consistently wrong.
A representative from the Michigan research team explained, “People will make all sorts of assumptions about people with tattoos—that they are risky, addicted to substances, and are all around more negative. But…tattoos are all a bit different, and that might guide judgments.” Their findings, however, revealed that most visual cues are shallow and misleading.
Curiously, even when raters were given the backstory or meaning of a tattoo, their ability to accurately assess the wearer’s traits barely improved. While sharing a tattoo’s story increased consensus between raters, it did not equip them to see the real person behind the ink. “So one surprising thing is just how little people were using particular features of the tattoos,” said the study’s lead author. “There were some indicators, like if a tattoo was wacky/strange, that people were latching onto (which was indeed an accurate indicator). But it was a bit strange to see that people were agreeing on judgments but we couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was guiding their judgments.”
For Thailand—a country with a deep tradition of Sak Yant spiritual tattoos as well as a burgeoning urban tattoo scene—these findings illuminate an important tension. While tattoos have ancient roots in Buddhist and animist practice, dedicated to spiritual protection or fulfillment of vows, global pop culture and fashion have transformed the symbolism and style of body art among young Thais. This cultural mixing can lead to confusion and, according to the research, stubborn misjudgments.
In the Thai context, despite growing social acceptance in cities like Bangkok and Chiang Mai, tattoos may still be linked to negative stereotypes in workplaces, schools, or when traveling abroad. The results from this research suggest that such snap judgments are unfounded. In settings where tattoos are rapidly becoming a form of individual expression—rather than a signal of rebellion or marginality—most personality inferences projected onto the wearer are simply untrue.
Such misjudgments have real-world impacts. For example, in Thailand as elsewhere, tattooed job seekers may fear bias in hiring, students may face school dress code restrictions, and travelers may experience prejudice abroad based on visible tattoos. For female tattoo-wearers—who made up 71% of the U.S. research pool—misconceptions can intersect with gender expectations, leading to even narrower perceptions of character.
The study’s use of the lens model is especially revealing for educators and HR professionals in Thailand. It shows that people tend to rely on consistent, surface-level cues—even when those cues have little or nothing to do with the truth. In the world of tourism, where Thailand welcomes millions of international visitors each year (many proudly displaying body art), there is an opportunity for guides, employers, and service providers to reflect on whether their own attitudes align with evidence.
For older Thais and rural communities, tattoos often carry a separate history: they may be associated with criminality, spiritual protection, or rites of passage, depending on region and tradition. This research underscores the danger of assuming a tattoo’s meaning, and by extension its wearer’s character, without context or conversation.
Expert voices within the Thai academic community have expressed similar caution. A representative from a leading Thai university’s sociology department notes that “while tattoos are increasingly normalized among youth, older generations or more conservative communities still see them as a marker of deviance. This research should remind us that personality is far deeper than appearance.”
Looking ahead, the authors of the study urge greater curiosity and openness in interactions: “We’re not entirely sure what’s guiding people’s judgments…although they were pretty inaccurate about the judgments, but they were indeed forming consistent judgments.” The researchers plan further studies that explore how the meaning behind tattoos, when fully articulated, might more richly inform outsider perceptions.
For Thailand’s health and education sectors, this research offers practical lessons. First, for educators: reconsider whether anti-tattoo policies in schools and universities are justified by evidence or largely shaped by myth. Second, for healthcare providers: avoid making assumptions about mental health, risk-taking, or adherence to care based on a patient’s ink. Third, for employers and hiring managers: review appearance-based hiring biases in light of the data.
For everyday Thais—whether tattoo-wearers, artists, or the uninked majority—the call to action is simple. Take time to ask about the meaning and inspiration behind a tattoo before drawing conclusions about character or values. Recognize that “judging a book by its cover” is not just unkind, but unscientific.
The next time you encounter a classmate, coworker, or tourist with body art, remember: while society’s consensus about the meaning of tattoos is strong, it usually says more about collective stereotypes than about the unique human being before you. As Thailand—like societies worldwide—continues to embrace diversity in self-expression, building more evidence-based and open-minded attitudes will enrich both public discourse and individual relationships.
For further reading on the study and its methodology, see the original coverage in PsyPost.