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via boston.com
Tattoos and unusual piercings carry the stereotype of nonconformity. Just ask yourself: How often do you see them on business managers or government officials? However, a new study from anthropologists in Poland suggests that, for men, tattoos and piercings are actually signals of biological quality. The researchers compared the body symmetry – specifically, measurements of the right and left hands – of people with tattoos and piercings to a similar group of people without tattoos and piercings. Symmetry has been established in previous research as a good indicator of biological quality (i.e., “good genes”). Men with tattoos and piercings were significantly more symmetrical than men without tattoos and piercings. The authors theorize that, given the pain and risk of infection from getting tattoos and piercings, only stronger men will get them.
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