The Relationship Between Tattoos and Employee Workplace Deviance

• Published in: Journal of hospitality & tourism research (Washington, D.C.) Vol. 43; no. 7; pp. 1025 - 1043
• Main Authors: Tews, Michael J., Stafford, Kathryn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-09-2019; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Tattoos; workplace deviance; conscientiousness; tattoos; agreeableness
• ISSN: 1096-3480; 1557-7554
• DOI: 10.1177/1096348019848482

While those adorned with tattoos have historically belonged to deviant subpopulations, tattoos today are certainly more widespread. With this mainstreaming of tattoos, the question arises whether the deviant stereotype persists and extends to today’s workplace. To address this issue, the present study examined the relationships between tattoos and organizational and interpersonal workplace deviance with a sample of 518 individuals employed in restaurant settings. Whether or not an employee was merely tattooed was not related to either form of deviance. However, greater tattoo number was associated with greater organizational deviance. In addition, the results suggest that being adorned with “darker” tattoos was related to both types of deviance, although the effect sizes were not large. The significant findings held even after controlling for the employees’ agreeableness and conscientiousness.