The Relationship between Body Art, Temperament and Risky Behavior among the Lebanese Culture

The present study examined the relationship of body art – tattoos and piercings – and temperament to involvement in risky behavior on a sample of Lebanese people between the ages of 15 and 35 (N = 104). In addition, this study investigated the effect of gender in involvement in risky behavior. The study relied on self-report measures where participants were asked to provide demographic and body art related information, and fill two questionnaires: the Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events (CARE) and the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego Auto-Questionnaire (TEMPS-A). Results were computed to assess correlates (of body art and risky behavior, as well as temperament and risky behavior), and T-test was performed to detect differences between means of males and females. The results of the study showed that there were no correlations between number of piercing and involvement in risky behavior, tattoos only correlated with heavy drinking but not with the rest of risky behaviors – illicit drug use, risky sexual activities, and academic behavior –. Results also showed that gender is a variable that positively predicts involvement in risky behavior. In addition, the results of the study showed that hyperthymic temperament is not correlated to heavy drinking, risky sexual activity, and involvement in body art, and that irritable temperament is not correlated to illicit drug use and heavy drinking. In conclusion, this study did not support the existing literature on the association between body art, temperament and risky behavior among the Lebanese sample.