University of Alabama conducted a study regarding tattooing among athletes, to see if tattooing was used by those who are generally more fit-- especially among men--to emphasize this fact. Through their nationwide-conducted study of 6528 undergraduates, Christopher D. Lynn, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Alabama, and graduate, Cassandra Mederios, wondered if there truly was a correlation between tattoos and athletes, or if media portrayals of tattooed athletes amplified the idea that there is such a high proportion of tattooed athletes, and if these athletes just get the most press.
In their chapter in Tattooing Commitment, Quality, and Football in Southeastern North America, Lynn and Mederios wrote, “Tattooing appears to be a cultural and psychological pattern of behavior rooted in Darwinian processes. It is the result of an evolved tendency to manipulate human bodies in meaningful ways with distinctive benefits. Tattooing can signal group affiliation or commitment through using the body as a human canvas. Tattooing also provides cues about biological quality because it is an injury to the body, and the healing process on the surface of the skin is visible to everyone and impossible to fake.”
The results of the study were surprising.
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