Plenty of people find tattoos sexy. There’s something mysterious and rebellious about them, and that’s hot. In fact, a 2017 Type survey found that 64% of women are attracted to guys with body ink, while a lower but still respectable 39% of women feel the same. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that a new study found that people with tattoos find it much easier to get laid.
Tattoos make people want to have sex with you.
This is the major takeaway from the Jagiellonian University Medical College study of 2,369 women and 215 men. To come to this conclusion, participants looked at pictures of tattooed and non-tattooed men before rating them based on a number of factors including masculinity, attractiveness, aggressiveness, how healthy they look, and whether or not they had the potential to be decent partners and parents.
Generally speaking, the women overwhelmingly rated men with tattoos above those without ink in all but one area: attractiveness. That trait was pretty equally spread between the two. So, tattoos don’t necessarily make you more attractive. They do, however, have another benefit that’s likely to get you laid.
Tattoos make you look healthier.
The study found that women thought men with tattoos looked like they were in better health than those without body art. It’s hard to say in what way the participants were quantifying “health,” but there you have it. Given that we have an evolutionary draw to partners who could potentially be stronger/more virile, it makes sense we’d be more drawn to those who offer those things. That being said, there was another study that did find getting tattoos stimulates your immune system, so perhaps it’s not that far off the mark.
The downside is that the female participants in the study did rank tattooed men significantly lower when it came to whether or not they’d be good dads or boyfriends/husbands. Weird, but that’s how it goes.
So, why are women drawn to guys with tattoos?
Part of the reason could come down to other men. As part of the study, men rated other guys with tattoos and without them. Funny enough, they ranked all the inked-up men much lower than those without body art. Clearly, they see themselves as being in competition with tattooed guys, who are generally seen as more desirable by women. In effect, this only serves to make the tatted-up guys even hotter. Mind-boggling but cool, right?
And while the study predominantly studied men with ink, given that nearly 40% of men love women with tattoos, it feels somewhat safe to assume the same works in reverse.
