Body Piercing and Self-Mutilation: A Multifaceted Relationship

Anika Wessel; Erich Kasten

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.14

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Body Piercing and Self-Mutilation: A Multifaceted Relationship

Anika Wessel, Erich Kasten

Published in American Journal of Applied Psychology (Volume 3, Issue 4)

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

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[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.

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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
PY - 2014
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.14
DO - 10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.14
T2 - American Journal of Applied Psychology
JF - American Journal of Applied Psychology
JO - American Journal of Applied Psychology
SP - 104
EP - 109
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2328-5672
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20140304.14
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.
VL - 3
IS - 4
ER -

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Author Information

Anika Wessel

Dept. of Internal Medicine, Johanniter Hospital Geesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany
Erich Kasten

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

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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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