Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University looked into whether the fact that body art had become more mainstream in recent years had affected traditional stereotypes.

They found that tattooed individuals reported significantly higher levels of verbal aggression, anger and rebelliousness compared with non-tattooed adults.

Viren Swami said: “One explanation is that people who have higher reactive rebelliousness may respond to disappointing and frustrating events by getting tattooed.

“That is, when these individuals experience a negative emotional event, they may be more likely to react by pursuing an act that is seen as defiant.

“On the other hand, there were no significant differences between tattooed and non-tattooed adults in proactive rebelliousness.

“It is possible that this form of rebelliousness, which is hedonistic and goal-driven, is at odds with the pain and permanence of tattoos.”

She added that the study of 378 adults aged between 20 and 58 found that those with tattoos scored higher in terms of verbal aggression and anger.

“Although tattoos have now become commonplace in modern society, our findings may have implications for understanding the reported associations between tattooing and risky behaviour among adults,” she said.

The research, to be published in the journal Body Image, also showed a correlation between the number of tattoos a person had and their levels of anger.