The dilemmas of embodied symbolic representation: Regret in contemporary American tattoo narratives

Numerous scholars have argued that we are currently in a post “tattoo renaissance” era wherein the practice has increasingly become a legitimate art form accepted by the American middle class. In order to facilitate this cultural transition, tattooed people legitimize their own tattoos through various narratives that ascribe deep semantic meaning to their images and words. Pulling from twenty-two in-depth interviews with tattoo removal clinicians, tattoo artists, people who regret at least one of their current tattoos, and people who have had their tattoos removed or altered, this paper contributes to the literature on the meaning and significance of tattoos in the lives of 21st century Americans. In particular, we aim to showcase that, in the current cultural context, wherein people feel a need to justify their tattoos with a level of profound symbolic meaning, tattoo regret abounds in a form distinct from that of previous generations. Drawing from a post-structuralist framework which understands tattoos as symbols, we discuss tattoo narratives as pervasive normative expectations and explore how people face potential dilemmas when they lack them, as well as when they subscribe static and absolute meanings to the words and images depicted in their body art. These narratives, and accordingly the tattoos themselves, become problematic as a result of the inability of tattoos to function beyond their capacity as symbolic representations. When people cannot reconcile or transcend the dynamic and relative nature of their tattoos’ symbolic meanings, they feel regretful and sometimes opt for tattoo cover-ups or removals.     

Racial Differences in Attitudes Toward Professional Mental Health Treatment: The Mediating Effect of Stigma

Stigma associated with mental illness continues to be a pervasive barrier to mental health treatment, leading to negative attitudes about treatment and deterring appropriate care seeking. Empirical research suggests that the stigma of mental illness may exert an adverse influence on attitudes toward mental health treatment and service utilization patterns by individuals with a mental illness, particularly African Americans. However, little research has examined the impact of stigma on racial differences in attitudes toward seeking mental health treatment. This study examined the hypothesis that stigma partially mediates the relationship between race and attitudes towards mental health treatment in a community-based sample of 101 African American and White older adults. Multiple regression analyses and classic path analysis was utilized to test the partial mediation model. Controlling for socio-demographic factors, African American older adults were more likely to have negative attitudes toward mental health treatment, and they also reported more public and internalized stigma than their White counterparts. As hypothesized, the relationship between race and attitudes toward mental health treatment was partially mediated by internalized stigma, suggesting that internalized stigma may cause older adults to develop negative attitudes about mental health treatment. The partial mediation model was not significant for public stigma, however. Implications for social work research and practice are discussed.     

Getting inked: Tattoo and risky behavioral involvement among university students

The purpose of the study is to assess university students’ involvement in tattooing and examine associations between tattooing and risky behaviors. University students enrolled in physical education and health classes at one Midwestern University are study participants, and a survey is used to examine 998 university students’ involvement in tattooing. The results indicate that 29.6% of respondents have a tattoo. The most common locations for tattoos are the chest (37.6%), foot (26.8%), arm (15.8%), and back (14.4%). Females are more likely than males to have a tattoo. Tattooed students are significantly more likely than non-tattooed students to engage in alcohol and marijuana use and risky sexual behaviors. Suicidal behaviors and suicidal ideation are not related to tattoo status among university students. Therefore, college health professionals should be aware of associations between tattooing and risky behavioral involvement. Educational programs are needed to increase student awareness of body modification and associated risk behaviors.     

Hope: An empirical study of attitude toward the timing of uncertainty resolution

Hope is experienced when there is enjoyment in delaying the resolution of uncertainty. The main objective of this article is to identify the phenomenon of hope. In addition, we empirically test several axiomatic theories of temporal preferences which have implications for attitudes toward the timing of uncertainty resolution. Overall, the data support the extension of recursive expected utility specification to incorporate a weighted utility model of attitude toward future uncertainty. We find that the instances where hopefulness are more prevalent tend to be associated with a small probability of occurrence of a large gain. Interestingly, the degree of hopefulness is not correlated with risk attitude.     

Body art,deviance, and American college students

This research examines the relationship between body art (tattoos and piercings) and deviance. With the increasing mainstream presence of visible tattoos and piercings among entertainers, athletes, and even in corporate boardrooms, we wonder the extent to which long-time enthusiasts and collectors regard the phenomenon as encroachment. We use sub-cultural identity theory to propose that individuals with increasing evidence of body art procurement will also report higher levels of deviant behavior in order to maintain and/or increase social distance from the mainstream. We tested this proposition by surveying 1753 American college students, asking them to report their level of body art acquisition and their history of deviance. Results indicate that respondents with four or more tattoos, seven or more body piercings, or piercings located in their nipples or genitals, were substantively and significantly more likely to report regular marijuana use, occasional use of other illegal drugs, and a history of being arrested for a crime. Less pronounced, but still significant in many cases, was an increased propensity for those with higher incidence of body art to cheat on college work, binge drink, and report having had multiple sex partners in the course of their lifetime.     

Tattoos,gender, and well-being among American college students

This research note examines the relationship between survey respondents’ reports of escalating numbers of tattoos and their measured levels of self-esteem, depression, suicide ideation, and reports of one or more suicide attempts. Data were gathered from 2,395 college students attending six American public universities. Results indicate a four-fold higher level of reported suicide attempts among females with four or more tattoos as compared to those with no tattoos, or three or less. Paradoxically, results also indicate a statistically significant elevation in self-esteem within that same group. No other findings and comparisons are statistically significant. These findings are interpreted in light of previous research examining the relationship between tattoos and gender, body image, and deviance.     

Attached to Income Support Programs for the Elderly:

Although there is every evidence that the degree of stigma attached to income support programs for the elderly has been decreasing, only about one-half of the elderly individuals who are eligible participate currently in the Supplemental Security Income program (SSI). The present study explores issues of stigma as perceived by low-income elderly persons who were not receiving Old Age Assistance payments in 1973-a year before SSI went into effect. The results of regression analysis indicate that their attitudes toward issues of stigma are statistically nonsignificant predictors of whether they would contact social security ofiice in 1974 to inquire about their eligibility for SSI benefits. The data source for the present study is the Survey of the Low-Income Aged and Disabled (SLIAD) conducted in 1973 and 1974 by the Social Security Administration with the cooperation of the Bureau of the Census.     

Associations between HIV stigma and social support for people living with HIV in Hyderabad,India

The present study examined the association between social support and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) stigma through a survey of 150 people living with HIV (PLWH) in Hyderabad, India. Survey items to assess social support were adapted from the HIV Cost Services and Utilization Survey. HIV stigma was measured using Zelaya and Jeyaseelan scales that were previously validated in India. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed an inverse association between social support and HIV stigma across both stigma scales. Depression further intensified the level of stigma faced by PLWH who had lower levels of social support. Third-gender individuals experienced significantly higher HIV stigma and lower social support than cisgender men. Social support must be used as a protective factor in current HIV stigma reduction interventions. Findings highlight the need to adopt a gender-sensitive social support framework in HIV care policies to better address HIV stigma in the Indian context.     

Impression management pressures on racial attitude surveys

For decades, researchers have expressed concern that self-report racial attitude measures are vulnerable to distortion from pressures respondents feel to present themselves as unprejudiced. A common response to this problem is to measure social desirability separately from racial attitudes and control for its variance in statistical analyses. The present study is designed to test whether such controls are sufficient. Participants rated items from both racial attitude and social desirability scales in terms of the amount of pressure they would feel to respond in a particular way regardless of their true attitudes. Participants report significantly greater response pressure on racial attitude items than on social desirability items, and ratings on the two types of items have only moderately shared variance. Implications for controlling social desirability in racial attitude research are discussed.     

Introducing a novel approach to the cross-cultural measurement of stigma versus social integration using methods from the field of cognitive anthropology

This study combines current theories and methods from the field of disability studies and cognitive anthropology in the development of a cross culturally replicable and comparative model for evaluating stigma toward, versus social integration of, people with disabilities in society. Weaknesses in previous ways of measuring and comparing ‘social integration’ are addressed, as well as known challenges of measuring attitudes and stigma toward disability, especially in a cross-culturally applicable and comparative way. A new application to previously existing methods in the field of cognitive anthropology is introduced which addresses these challenges. A case study conducted in Poland is described which illustrates the proposed methods. In conclusion, a roadmap for future research is provided which briefly reiterates the steps needed to replicate the study in various cultural contexts. Understanding the ways in which people with disabilities are perceived to deviate from culturally shared norms in a society may pave the way for the development of more effective and culturally targeted social policies in an effort to promote the social integration of all members of society.     

Effect of relational bullying on attitudes,behavior and injury among adolescent bullies,victims and bully-victims

This study examined whether dysfunctional correlates of relational bullying parallel those that have been found for physical bullying. We used data from the population of 2,494 respondents in grades 7–12 from a school district in Colorado to compare latent variables of self-esteem, attitudes toward school, delinquent behavior, physical injury, physical bullying, and physical victimization among 291 relational bullies, 303 victims, 213 bully-victims, and 1,687 neutrals. We used gender as a control variable. Neutrals had the best school attitudes, least problem behavior, least injury, and were less likely to be physical bullies or victims. Bully-victims reported worse outcomes on the latent variables than either neutrals or victims, and they were more likely to be physically victimized than bullies. These outcomes parallel findings among physical bullies in a similar sample. Results show the need for improved intervention, heightened awareness, and particular attention to relational bully-victims.     

Subjective Probability Weighting and the Discovered Preference Hypothesis

Numerous studies have convincingly shown that prospect theory can better describe risky choice behavior than the classical expected utility model because it makes the plausible assumption that risk aversion is driven not only by the degree of sensitivity toward outcomes, but also by the degree of sensitivity toward probabilities. This article presents the results of an experiment aimed at testing whether agents become more sensitive toward probabilities over time when they repeatedly face similar decisions, receive feedback on the consequences of their decisions, and are given ample incentives to reflect on their decisions, as predicted by Plott’s Discovered Preference Hypothesis (DPH). The results of a laboratory experiment with N = 62 participants support this hypothesis. The elicited subjective probability weighting function converges significantly toward linearity when respondents are asked to make repeated choices and are given direct feedback after each choice. Such convergence to linearity is absent in an experimental treatment where respondents are asked to make repeated choices but do not experience the resolution of risk directly after each choice, as predicted by the DPH. I thank Peter P. Wakker for useful comments and suggestions.     

Understanding public attitudes towards Social Security

There has been very little research on why individuals hold different attitudes toward Social Security. In this article we integrate social location theory and political predisposition theory to provide a framework of explanation and test these theories using a unique sample from the 1998 General Social Survey. Our multivariate results reveal that social structural positions along the lines of race, gender, class and age play a more important role than political predispositions in explain-ing individual differences in support for the current Social Security system against privatisation. Political party affiliation also partly contributes to variation in support for Social Security, but political ideology does not have a significant effect. Our results suggest that with regard to support for Social Security, primary consideration must rest on social structural positions. Racial minorities, women, the poor and the elderly tend to dislike a drastic change in the current Social Security system, and Social Security reform ought to pay attention to their concerns. Our robust finding of a positive relationship between age and support for Social Security also challenges much of the established knowledge, pointing to an intergenerational discord over Social Security. It is also important to differentiate among social welfare programmes in order to uncover the real determinants of public attitudes towards them.     

The reactions of women who have been assaulted and their efforts to gain redress

Women who are subjected to violence are affected by the traumatic event but also by the resultant negative or positive social situations arising from the manner in which society works. The aim of this study was to investigate, against the background of a traumatic incident, the significance of social events that occur after the act of violence itself. The picture of victimization and how it is experienced is complex. Two case studies illustrate the attempts of assaulted women to gain redress, but they also show how this is made more difficult by secondary traumatization. An analytical model gives some of the factors in the process of victimization. Assaulted women react to the assault on the basis of their current and previous life situation at the same time as the extent of the assault and the relation of the victim to the attacker are of importance. The representatives of society, volunteers and family and friends act in accordance with the "status" the victim has been implicitly given, which affects the woman's autonomy and her own ability to act. Secondary traumatization caused by a negative attitude from various actors in society makes the process of redress and a return to normal life more difficult.     

Racism, Sexism, and Candidate Evaluations in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election

In an attempt to understand the extent to which racism and sexism influenced affect toward Barack Obama and Sarah Palin, we analyze data from a national survey conducted in October 2008. Situating our investigation in previous examinations of modern racism and modern sexism, we test competing hypotheses about the role of these attitudes in the 2008 presidential election. Our results suggest that racism had a significant impact on candidate evaluations while sexism did not. We find that respondents who hold racist attitudes expressed negative attitudes toward Obama and positive attitudes toward Palin. When interacted with party identification, racism continued to exert a strong effect, indicating findings that are robust across partisan affiliations. Sexism, on the other hand, did not significantly influence evaluations of either Palin or Obama .     

From Classroom to Dyad: Actor and Partner Effects of Aggression and Victim Reputation

This study examined whether early adolescents’ classroom aggression predicted their aggression in a one‐on‐one dyadic setting, and whether early adolescents’ classroom victimization predicted their victimization in the dyadic setting. After completing peer nominations for aggression and victimization, 218 early adolescents (M age = 11.0 years) participated in a dyadic paradigm in which they were led to believe that they played against a same‐sex classmate for whom they could set the intensity of noise blasts. Analyses with the actor–partner interdependence model by Olsen and Kenny showed that peer‐nominated physical aggression for boys and relational aggression for girls predicted noise blast aggression in the dyadic setting. For girls but not boys, peer‐nominated victimization predicted victimization in the dyadic setting.     

Risk communication and attitude change: Taiwan's national debate over nuclear power

This article reports the first analysis of the effects of a national risk-communication program that disseminated the facts about the risks associated with nuclear power plants. It relies upon a unique set of circumstances in Taiwan. The state-operated power corporation sponsored a national debate in an effort to promote greater public consensus on the need for a fourth nuclear power plant. This analysis uses statedrisk perceptions and attitudes toward the plant to evaluate the effect of the debate. The results are based on a panel of households interviewed before and after the debate. They suggest that the debate did not reduce respondents' perceived risks from nuclear power and had little perceptible effect on the attitude changes of our sample. The only systematic influences detected on the observed attitude changes imply that respondents reacted counter to the debate's objectives, and thus the debate seems likely to continue to erode support for the new plant.The authors are, respectively, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Economics, Academic Sinica; and University Distinguished Professor of Economics, North Carolina State University, and Resources for the Future University Fellow. Thanks are due Jin Long Liu for his excellent research assistance in developing these results, to Kip Viscusi for constructive comments, and to Barbara Scott for her helpful editing of earlier drafts of this article. Partial support for Smith's research was provided by National Science Foundation grant SES-8911372.     

Gender-linked Risks for Peer Physical and Relational Victimization in the Context of School-level Poverty in First Grade

In a short‐term longitudinal study of 432 first‐grade children, we examined whether gender interacted with contextual differences (school‐level poverty) and individual differences at school entry (behavioral problems, emotional problems, and social competence) to predict changes in peer physical and relational victimization and receipt of prosocial acts. Gender differences in peer victimization were observed in schools with low levels of student poverty, such that girls showed significant decreases in peer victimization relative to boys. Girls in schools with high levels of student poverty were at greater risk for increases in victimization relative to girls in low‐poverty schools. Individual differences at school entry also contributed to risks for physical (but not relational) victimization. Girls with high levels of behavioral problems and boys with low levels of social competence showed increased risks for physical victimization. We discussed the implications of the present findings for school‐based peer‐victimization prevention programs.     

论"虚假人类中心论"与"真实人类中心论"

伴随着生态环境的恶化,人与自然关系的紧张,从而引发了对以往“人类中心论”的反思与批判,应该说,这是人类面临生态环境危机,在理论和实践基础上进行的自我反思与批判。反思的结果是有些人把问题简单而武断地归结为“人类中心论”,进而提出“非人类中心论”。实际上,生态环境的恶化,并不能简单笼统地归结为是“人类中心论”问题的症结是以往的“虚假人类中心论”。因此,要从根本上解决问题,不能以“非人类中心论”代替“人类中心论”,而是抛弃“虚假人类中心论”,建构“真实人类中心论”。