Background and Objective: In recent years, tattooing and piercing have evolved beyond mere aesthetic modifications to serve as tools for self-expression and identity formation. These behaviors are particularly prevalent among adolescents, who are in a critical stage of identity development. Given the psychological changes during this period, personality traits and early maladaptive schemas may play a significant role in shaping the motivations behind tattooing and piercing. This study aimed to examine the relationship between personality traits and early maladaptive schemas with adolescents' motivations for engaging in tattooing and piercing.
Method: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on 392 adolescents in Bushehr, selected using random sampling. The research instruments included the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa & McCrae, 1992), the Young Schema Questionnaire – Short Form (YSQ-SF; Young et al., 2003), and the Tattoo and Piercing Motivation Questionnaire (Mehrabi, Razaghi, & Yazdani, 2016). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis.
Findings: The results showed that responsibility and agreeableness negatively predicted identity motivation for tattooing and piercing, whereas early maladaptive schemas of abandonment, other-directedness, and impaired limits positively predicted this motivation. Aesthetic motivation was positively associated with neuroticism and openness to experience, while responsibility, impaired autonomy, and hypervigilance negatively predicted this motivation. Extraversion, impaired limits, and other-directedness positively predicted conformity motivation, whereas hypervigilance showed a negative association. Additionally, message transmission motivation was positively associated with extraversion and other-directedness, while responsibility, agreeableness, and hypervigilance negatively influenced this motivation. Furthermore, as age increased, adolescents’ motivation for piercing, par