Prethodno priopćenje
https://doi.org/10.22572/mi.32.1.3
Communicative Aspects of Tattoo Visibility: The Body as a Medium in Professional Social Contexts
Nikša Sviličić
; Sveučilište Sjever
Sažetak
This paper examines the communicative aspects of tattoo visibility in professional and broader social contexts, conceptualizing the body as an active medium of communication. Tattoos are approached as permanent bodily inscriptions that, once visible, move beyond the private sphere and become subject to social perception, interpretation, and evaluation. The study aims to explore how tattooed individuals perceive the communicative consequences of tattoo visibility. The theoretical framework integrates symbolic interactionism, semiotic perspectives on the body as a system of signs, dramaturgical theory of impression management, and concepts of symbolic capital and normative regulation of the body. The empirical component is based on a quantitative online survey conducted on a convenience sample of 704 tattooed adults in Croatia, The findings indicate that higher levels of tattoo visibility are associated with an increased perception of professional risk and stronger expectations of negative evaluation in professional interactions. Moreover, the results show that individuals actively and situationally regulate the visibility of their tattoos, with selective concealment strategies occurring significantly more often in interactions involving authority figures than in non-hierarchical social contexts. Tattoo visibility thus emerges as a context-dependent communicative practice situated between expressions of personal autonomy and adaptation to socially constructed professional norms.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
347947
URI
Datum izdavanja:
17.6.2026.
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