Why do some people enjoy being tickled while others hate it?
I doubt there is an objective answer to this. Moving to IMHO from GQ.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I have no idea, but I LOVE being tickled, though it depends on the type of tickle. It’s softly running the fingertips along my back, forearm or feet. My husband loves it too, and we find it relaxing (I tickle his back in bed before he falls asleep almost every night). My sisters are the same way, but my parents are not.
A hard tickle is not fun for me.
For the same reason that some men enjoy having their balls stepped on by women in high heels and some men hate it. There’s just no accounting for taste.
I can laugh and enjoy it for a while, but if it persists too long… then I want to break the fingers of the person doing the tickling.
As a child my elder siblings would tickle me until I passed out or had an asthmatic fit, they called that ‘the tickling monster’. To survive I had to learn how to mentally stop being ticklish, to calm down while in a state of hysteria. Even now big iron security walls slam down in my mind when someone tries to tickle me, and I have to very consciously allow lovers to tickle me.
See, that to me is stroking, or light touch, not tickle. “Tickle” is inherently negative in my book, whether it’s a tickle in my throat or the tickle monster attacking my belly.
I like light touch. I HATE tickling, although I put up with short bursts of it when my daughter does it, because sometimes you have to humor the Littles. (She likes it, up to a point, I think because it’s obvious that she has my attention when I tickle her. I will only tickle her upon request, or at the very least, stop when she says stop, though.)
I think it has to do with giving up control. When someone is tickling you, they’ve pretty much ‘got’ you; they are in control of the situation, and you’re not. Some people like to be ‘out of control’, as long as they trust the other person not to push things too far. Some people ***hate ***not being in control. Others like it only in certain situations…they might hate being tickled under ‘normal circumstances’, but enjoy it as part of a sexual encounter, for example.
Cause it’s sexy? 
For the same reason the Q Collective likes games of chance and will. It’s a way to relish the loss of control to a loved one.
I’m reminded of a Dimitri Martin quote:
“If someone asks you if you’re ticklish, it doesn’t matter what your answer is…you’re going to get tickled.”
Yes! This is what I came in here to post. Sometimes a soft tickle can be too ticklish in certain places, though. Like tummy/neck–hate having those touched at all. But my back or legs or scalp–awesome!
Umm, yea, this is where I would get pissed. I was tickle tortured as a child, and cannot stand it now. Its not fun, nor pleasant, just sheer hell.