“No ragrets”: Public perceptions of tattooed mental health professionals.

Abstract

Clinical psychology students and practitioners are conventionally advised to "cover up" their tattoos, as they may be deemed unprofessional by clients and risk hindering the working alliance. While this may seem reasonable on the surface, the only research available on the topic has focused on psychologists' selfperceptions and perceptions of tattooed colleagues, which seem to be negative, rather than exploring client perceptions of tattooed clinicians themselves. The present study explored the perceptions of a fictional clinical psychologist profile, including one of three photos (no tattoo, neutral tattoo, or provocative tattoo). Participants were asked to rate the competence of the clinical psychologist, and their feelings toward her. Results indicated that the psychologist with the provocative tattoo was viewed as more competent in the domains of interventions, empathy, ability to practice in a forensic setting, and with adult populations. The psychologist with the provocative tattoo was also rated as more confident, interesting, likable, and less lazy than the psychologist with the neutral tattoo or no tattoo. Although participants rated the two tattooed psychologists as appearing less professional than the psychologist with no tattoo, this did not appear to translate into negative feelings toward the tattooed psychologists or an unwillingness to seek services from them. The results suggest that, contrary to conventional wisdom, psychologists and their trainees may not need to take special precautions to conceal visible tattoos. Tattoos do not seem to impact perceptions of clinician competence among the general public and may even aid the formation of professional bonds with clientele. Public Significance StatementThis study challenges conventional wisdom that the presence of visible tattoos has a negative effect on perceptions of professional psychologists. The findings suggest that a visible tattoo has no reliably negative impacts on feelings toward psychologists or perceptions of their competence, and rather, may even have positive impacts on such feelings and perceptions. The findings indicate that tattooed clinicians and trainees may not need to conceal their body art.