Exploring the motivations for body piercing: A pilot study

Research often portrays those who engage in body piercing in a negative stereotypical light inferring them as “fringe dwellers,” from broken homes and subject to abuse (Armstrong, Roberts, Owen, & Koch, 2004a). It has also been suggested that there is a link between piercing and early sexualisation (Bragg, 2012; Goldie, Dowie, Goldie, Cotton, & Morrison, 2015). However, rather than a marker of pathology, body piercing has been linked to a more positive expression of self and identity (Preti et al., 2006). It is claimed that body modifications including piercings show a unique relationship between the person and their piercings (Stirn, Oddo, Peregrinova, Philipp, & Hinz, 2011).