# Why Do Some People Enjoy Being Tickled? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 19, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814 "2010-06-19T22:18:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![David25](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@David25](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David25)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814/1 "2010-06-19T22:18:51Z")
Why do some people enjoy being tickled while others hate it? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814/2 "2010-06-19T22:29:15Z")
I doubt there is an objective answer to this. Moving to IMHO from GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814/3 "2010-06-19T23:12:39Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814/4 "2010-06-19T23:50:20Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814/5 "2010-06-20T00:01:56Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Drew\_Kit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Drew\_Kit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drew_Kit)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814/6 "2010-06-20T02:37:04Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814/7 "2010-06-20T02:41:46Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > 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. 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.) ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814/8 "2010-06-20T03:18:41Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814/9 "2010-06-20T03:49:31Z")
Cause it’s sexy? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814/10 "2010-06-20T08:11:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814/11 "2010-06-20T16:43:00Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814/12 "2010-06-20T16:45:18Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > 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. 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! ---
**Author:** ![Like\_Fry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@Like\_Fry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Like_Fry)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-enjoy-being-tickled/543814/13 "2010-06-20T22:36:59Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > 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.” 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.