The tattoo study shows people get tattoos for these reasons:

• 44% wanted to feel unique.
• 33% wanted to feel independent.
• 28% wanted to bring attention to a particular life experience.

The researchers write that one out of four American adults aged 18 to 30 has a tattoo.

In studies, the main reason for wanting to get rid of a tattoo was that people had a “shift in their identities,” and wanted to do away with the past.

The findings appear in the Archives of Dermatology.