Women With Tattoos Are More Likely To Be Sex Freaks

Well, that's according to a French research...

It's no secret that when it comes to the mating game, men tend to place a higher premium on beauty than women do - whether it be for a liaison or a lifetime.

Ample research shows that men are sensitive to a range of physical cues in women, such as a low waist-to-hip ratio, larger breasts, effective cosmetics use, revealing clothing, and wearing the color red (which signals sexual receptivity). But according to psychologist Nicolas Guéguen of the Université de Bretagne-Sud, this research also highlights another kind of sensitivity: Men tend to overestimate women's sexual intentions. Put another way, men often misinterpret women as having more sexual interest than they really do.



By comparison to other physical cues, Guéguen notes that, remarkably, the research on men's responsiveness to tattooed women has received scant attention. In France, where he's based, 12 percent of women sport a tattoo. In the United States, that number stands at 23 percent. The few studies that have focused on men's perceptions of tattooed women have found that these ladies are seen in a negative light. One study, for example, had a photograph of a 24-year old woman rated along personal characteristics, both with and without a black dragon tattoo on her upper left arm. When she displayed the tattoo, she was judged as less athletic, motivated, honest, generous, religious, intelligent and artistic than when she displayed no tattoo. But Guéguen noticed a curious set of findings in this thin research area: While men see tattooed women as less attractive, they also see them as more promiscuous.

Are tattooed women more promiscuous than those who display no body art? Guéguen conducted a survey of tattooed and pierced women in France, and found that they had had sexual intercourse at relatively younger ages. But what these numbers couldn't determine was whether women with tattoos and piercings were more interested in sex, or if women with tattoos and piercings simply had more sexual solicitations by men. Given this lack of clarity, he set out to investigate men's responses to tattooed women.

These findings add to multiple lines of evidence showing how men value women's physical attributes when judging and interacting with them. A healthy body of research indicates that men exalt beauty in both long-term and in short-term mating.

Guéguen interprets the results from an evolutionary perspective. Like cosmetics or clothing, women may adorn tattoos as a way to enhance their appeal to men and, in turn, to attract more males. A woman has a better chance of choosing a mate of "higher quality" when there are more of them from which to choose. Tattoos may then serve as an effective means to capture male attention. Along similar evolutionary lines, men are driven to mate with many women in order to spread their genes. Logic then dictates that they will pursue women who display more sexual receptivity. Again, like cosmetics and clothing, men may see tattoos as advertising greater interest in sex on the part of women.

Guéguen is sure to point out that this study has its share of limitations. Similarly, he recommends that future research should focus on whether the association between tattoos and promiscuity is based on men's stereotypes or real experiences. Nonetheless, this study offers some novel insights into why when it comes to tattooed women, some men see body art and others see a "tramp stamp."

What do you guys think, do you think this is true of Nigerian women?


Psycology Today