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Body Piercing and Self-Mutilation: A Multifaceted Relationship

Received: 16 July 2014     Accepted: 30 July 2014     Published: 10 August 2014
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Abstract

Goal was to examine the connection between piercings and self-mutilation and the practice of self-piercing. Participants (n=140) completed an anonymous online survey consisting of a 54-item questionnaire and a standardized personality test. All respondents were members of internet communities specialized on piercings. The majority of participants (77.1%) were female, 22.9% were male. The mean age of the group was 24.7 years (range: 16-57 years). Participants had an average of 8.9 piercings. More than half (57.9%) of participants were between 15 and 20 years old when they acquired their first piercing. The most common piercings reported were facial (in 82.9% of participants), ear cartilage (in 67.9% of participants), nipple (in 48.6% of participants) and genital piercings (in 45.0% of participants). Participants were asked to complete the NEO-FFI personality inventory, which is a tool used to measure the personality factors Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extraversion, Openness and Neuroticism. Although all of the NEO-FFI results were within the average norm, significant differences between the participants with/without self-injury were found regarding the T-Scores for Neuroticism and Agreeableness. Thirty-one percent of the participants reported a history of self-mutilation. Those with a history of self-mutilation did not have more piercings than their peers. Half of these individuals described a decrease in auto-aggressive behavior since having acquired piercings, twenty-five percent claim to have ceased self-injurious behavior. The incidence of self-mutilation appears to be higher among pierced individuals than among the general public. Participants who had engaged in self-injury had significantly more often self-pierced. Piercings and self-piercings may serve as substitute behavior for self-mutilation in some individuals.

Published in American Journal of Applied Psychology (Volume 3, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.14
Page(s) 104-109
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Body Piercing, Self-Mutilation, Self-Piercing

References
[1] Keller, A. et al. (2012). Nature Communications. New insights into the Tyrolean Iceman's origin and phenotype as inferred by whole-genome sequencing: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v3/n2/full/ncomms1701.html
[2] Kasten, E. (2006). Body Modification: Psychological and medical aspects of piercing, tattoo, self-mutilation and other forms of body-modification (Body-Modification: Psychologische und medizinische Aspekte von Piercing, Tattoo, Selbstverletzung und anderen Körperveränderungen). München: Reinhardt.
[3] Kasten, E. (2007). Genital body modification in women (Genitale Body-Modifications bei Frauen). Der Gynäkologe, 40(6): 489-500.
[4] Forbes, G. B. (2001). College students with tattoos and piercing: motives, family experiences, personality factors and perception by others. Psychological Reports, 89(3): 774-786.
[5] Wohlrab, A., Stahl, J., & Kappeler, P. (2007). Modifying the body: motivations for getting tattoed and pierced. Body Image, 4(1): 87-95.
[6] De Mello, M. (2000). Bodies of inscription. A cultural history of the modern tattoo community. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
[7] Hewitt, K. (1997). Mutilating the body. Identity in blood and ink. Bowling Green State University Popular Press.
[8] Stirn, A., & Hinz, A. (2008). Tattoos, body piercings, and self-injury: Is there a connection? Psychotherapy Research, 18(3): 326-333.
[9] Bone, A., Ncube, F., Nichols, T., & Noah, N. (2008). Body piercing in England: a survey of piercing sites other than the earlobe. British Medical Journal, 336(7658): 1426-1428.
[10] Stirn, A., Hinz, A., & Brähler, E. (2006). Prevalence of tattooing and body piercing in Germany and perception of health, mental disorder, and sensation seeking among the tattoed and body-pierced individuals. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 60(5): 531-534.
[11] Klonsky, E., & Muehlenkamp, J. (2007). Self-Injury: a research review for the practitioner. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63(11): 1045-1056.
[12] Klonsky, E., Oltmanns, T., & Turkheimer, E. (2003). Deliberate self-harm in a nonclinical population: Prevalence and Psychological Correlates. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(8): 1501-1508.
[13] Hawton, K., Rodham, K., Evans, E., & Weatherall, R. (2002). Self-harm in adolescents: self-report survey in schools in England. British Medical Journal, 325(7374): 1207-1211.
[14] D'Ambrosio, A., Casillo, N., & Martini, V. (2013). Piercings and tattoos: psychopathological aspects. Activitas Nervosa Superior Rediviva, 55(4):143-148.
[15] Borkenau, P., & Ostendorf, F. (1993). NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) (NEO-Fünf-Faktoren-Inventar (NEO-FFI)) nach Costa und McCrae. Hogrefe.
[16] Mahoney, M. (1977). Publication Prejudices: an experimental study of confirmatory bias in the peer review system. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1(2): 161-175.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Anika Wessel, Erich Kasten. (2014). Body Piercing and Self-Mutilation: A Multifaceted Relationship. American Journal of Applied Psychology, 3(4), 104-109. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.14

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    ACS Style

    Anika Wessel; Erich Kasten. Body Piercing and Self-Mutilation: A Multifaceted Relationship. Am. J. Appl. Psychol. 2014, 3(4), 104-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.14

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    AMA Style

    Anika Wessel, Erich Kasten. Body Piercing and Self-Mutilation: A Multifaceted Relationship. Am J Appl Psychol. 2014;3(4):104-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.14,
      author = {Anika Wessel and Erich Kasten},
      title = {Body Piercing and Self-Mutilation: A Multifaceted Relationship},
      journal = {American Journal of Applied Psychology},
      volume = {3},
      number = {4},
      pages = {104-109},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajap.20140304.14},
      abstract = {Goal was to examine the connection between piercings and self-mutilation and the practice of self-piercing. Participants (n=140) completed an anonymous online survey consisting of a 54-item questionnaire and a standardized personality test. All respondents were members of internet communities specialized on piercings. The majority of participants (77.1%) were female, 22.9% were male. The mean age of the group was 24.7 years (range: 16-57 years). Participants had an average of 8.9 piercings. More than half (57.9%) of participants were between 15 and 20 years old when they acquired their first piercing. The most common piercings reported were facial (in 82.9% of participants), ear cartilage (in 67.9% of participants), nipple (in 48.6% of participants) and genital piercings (in 45.0% of participants). Participants were asked to complete the NEO-FFI personality inventory, which is a tool used to measure the personality factors Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extraversion, Openness and Neuroticism. Although all of the NEO-FFI results were within the average norm, significant differences between the participants with/without self-injury were found regarding the T-Scores for Neuroticism and Agreeableness. Thirty-one percent of the participants reported a history of self-mutilation. Those with a history of self-mutilation did not have more piercings than their peers. Half of these individuals described a decrease in auto-aggressive behavior since having acquired piercings, twenty-five percent claim to have ceased self-injurious behavior. The incidence of self-mutilation appears to be higher among pierced individuals than among the general public. Participants who had engaged in self-injury had significantly more often self-pierced. Piercings and self-piercings may serve as substitute behavior for self-mutilation in some individuals.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Body Piercing and Self-Mutilation: A Multifaceted Relationship
    AU  - Anika Wessel
    AU  - Erich Kasten
    Y1  - 2014/08/10
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    T2  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    JF  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    JO  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
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    AB  - Goal was to examine the connection between piercings and self-mutilation and the practice of self-piercing. Participants (n=140) completed an anonymous online survey consisting of a 54-item questionnaire and a standardized personality test. All respondents were members of internet communities specialized on piercings. The majority of participants (77.1%) were female, 22.9% were male. The mean age of the group was 24.7 years (range: 16-57 years). Participants had an average of 8.9 piercings. More than half (57.9%) of participants were between 15 and 20 years old when they acquired their first piercing. The most common piercings reported were facial (in 82.9% of participants), ear cartilage (in 67.9% of participants), nipple (in 48.6% of participants) and genital piercings (in 45.0% of participants). Participants were asked to complete the NEO-FFI personality inventory, which is a tool used to measure the personality factors Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extraversion, Openness and Neuroticism. Although all of the NEO-FFI results were within the average norm, significant differences between the participants with/without self-injury were found regarding the T-Scores for Neuroticism and Agreeableness. Thirty-one percent of the participants reported a history of self-mutilation. Those with a history of self-mutilation did not have more piercings than their peers. Half of these individuals described a decrease in auto-aggressive behavior since having acquired piercings, twenty-five percent claim to have ceased self-injurious behavior. The incidence of self-mutilation appears to be higher among pierced individuals than among the general public. Participants who had engaged in self-injury had significantly more often self-pierced. Piercings and self-piercings may serve as substitute behavior for self-mutilation in some individuals.
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Author Information
  • Dept. of Internal Medicine, Johanniter Hospital Geesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany

  • Dept. of Neuropsychology, Medical School Hamburg, University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

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