Are (most) people bad judges of their own ticklishness?

Just curious about your experience with this. I think a lot of people -- "vanillas," I guess, who don't get tickled all the time or spend a lot of time tickling or watching a wide variety of people being tickled -- are really bad at estimating their own ticklishness. And I think it tends to work both ways -- you have a lot of people claiming they're not very ticklish, then going nuts when they're actually tickled, and then at least as many who claim to be "the most ticklish people ever" who probably aren't, when it comes down to it. Maybe they haven't been tickled in a long time, and assume they're not ticklish because of that. Maybe they just had a pedicure and it tickled enough to convince them that they're unbearably ticklish. As a straight guy, I've known a lot of women who've been really bad at estimating their own ticklishness, and I assume guys are likely the same way.

I'm not really making a point here. More just making an observation -- I wonder if many people really have no idea how ticklish (or not) they are at all?

There are probably a lot of reasons behind the question you asked but I think the best answer is that people do not have anything to compare themselves to. That is, how can anyone know how ticklish they are compared to another individual when they can't feel what that person is feeling? One person might react more ( or less ) strongly but be less (or more) ticklish than another, and I think we as individuals compare our own ticklishness to how another person reacts when touched.

There are a ton of reasons to be misinformed about your own body, as well, like bad ticklers or specific situations that in/de-crease tickling-esque feelings. And then there are those that intentionally lie to prevent a tickling scenario from occurring.

Mostly I think you're grouping far too many situations together to adequately discuss it but, well, comparing how ticklish oneself is IS difficult to do. That's better handled by a third party, but even that is based almost solely on reactions.

Good points. And to clarify: I'm not so much talking about specific situations as I am about exactly what you bring up -- the idea that ticklishness "level" is hard to gauge, especially for people who don't think about it much.

"you have a lot of people claiming they're not very ticklish, then going nuts when they're actually tickled"

This is why I don't like to give people I'm planning to tickle more than a quick tickle, if that even, before I have them tied up!
Let them find out that they're screwed after the fact!

I once ran into a situation where I was discussing foot tickling with a female friend, (friend only) and she mentioned that she really didn't even know if her feet were ticklish. Rather than let me see for myself, she reported a couple of days later that the previous evening, she and her husband were relaxing on the couch watching TV, and she remembered our conversation. She swung her feet into her husband's lap, and asked him to tickle them. She told me that it tickled so Badly that she simply could not hold still. It was a good memory for my collection.

People that aren't into tickling are horrible judges of their own ticklishness. ive run into so many women that have said they are extremely ticklish and turned out to be just average.

maniactickler said:

People that aren't into tickling are horrible judges of their own ticklishness. ive run into so many women that have said they are extremely ticklish and turned out to be just average.

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Yeah, I hate it when it goes that way!

maniactickler said:

People that aren't into tickling are horrible judges of their own ticklishness. ive run into so many women that have said they are extremely ticklish and turned out to be just average.

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Yep. Of course then there's the odd one that does turn out to be off the scale ticklish...

I think part of it has to do with, not that they don't know how much "extremely" ticklish really is, but I think it has to do with how much they might hate it. To them, if they hate it a lot, they might consider them really ticklish, not really because of how ticklish they are, but because of how much they can't stand it. So to them since they hate it, it seems like they're really ticklish because to them it's unbearable.

But I've actually tickled a lot of people that say they're extremely ticklish and actually be extremely ticklish...

but of course I've also tickled people that said they were really ticklish and they weren't...

I've actually said this myself a few times. People who are curious always ask "on a scale of 1-10 how ticklish are you"... I hate that question, my version of 10 might not be your version. I typically say they should ask the husband since he does the tickling anyways. I know what spots on me are my top spots, which ones are "im ticklish there but only if you do it right", but I'm horrible at measuring that level.

Could just be me though

I also hate the 1-10 tickling scale. terribly inaccurate.

I feel like anyone who has never been tied down and tickled without mercy has no grasp on what their level of ticklishness is. To say that they are "bad" at judging their own ticklishness feels like a huge misnomer. They aren't bad at it, they just have no frame of reference.

As an aside to this (yes, I think most "vanilla" people have no idea how ticklish they are), there is something here that is key to how much I enjoy first timers. When someone wants to play for the very first time and has never been bound and tickled before, they usually have the quick tickle from a significant other or a hazy memory of being tickled by a famiy member, but no real reference point. When i find a spot that they didn't know was ticklish, and it is way worse than any other spot they did know about... the look on their face, the change in how they laugh/scream/squeal, and the way they suddenly wriggle in their bonds, is one of my favorite moments.

Many people certainly don't know their level of ticklishness - I think this is largely through lack of recent/regular experience, but also because they don't know how to quantify their level of ticklishness - those without any experience of being tickled for any length of time only have brief tickle attacks on specific body parts to gauge it by. This can lead to a lot of "omg I'm so ticklish there" answers from people who, although initially might go into ticklish defense mode, would actually give a very different answer if they had been tickled for longer. This same applies vice versa, where people block out the sensation for a short while, but it's not until somebody more determined comes along and actually discovers that they are more ticklish than they state.

I think many people base their answer on whichever body part comes to mind as one they would usually associate with ticklishness - this might come from simple memories such as being poked in the side, having someone squeeze your knees at school, getting a pedicure etc - but doesn't provide an overall picture of someone's ticklishness.

By contrast, many of us will have a vast array of knowledge of our own body, experience of tickling and being tickled as well as a raft of research material to call upon to give a step by step guide to each body part, to the point where we can accurately tailor the answer to whoever is asking.

I have certainly known some guys who have said they aren't ticklish at all, yet when I've managed to engineer a situation where I could put this to the test we have discovered they are actually very ticklish.

I have also come across people who've just said 'yeah I'm a bit ticklish' and they've turned out to be majorly ticklish when tickled 'properly'.

Likewise, I have come across a couple of girls who said they were extremely ticklish, yet when tickled for a lengthy period soon got used to the sensation.
Thankfully there have been some that said this, and it turned out to be true to form - but that doesn't mean to say they knew this beforehand, it could have been they were just giving an estimated answer based on what I've described above and it turned out to be a flukey accurate answer!

I can also think of one person who has volunteered information on separate occasions that a) she can't be tickled at all because she's so ticklish and b) she is not ticklish at all - knowing the person, I think her answers are dependent on her mood - the interesting thing is, I've had experiences tickling her where both of these answers have rung true - so, as always, I think psychology and the brain is playing a good part in helping the person decide whether or not they are ticklish according to who is asking/tickling and the given occasion and whether they want to battle the ticklishness or submit to it.
This particular person seemed in control of it, but I've known others that appear genuinely bemused by their level of ticklishness on different occasions and how it can vary according to the various factors involved.

Always so many factors involved in this wonderful thing that is tickling - if level of ticklishness is hard to gauge for us lot, then it must be impossible for those who don't find it interesting like we do!

i'd have to say yes.

steve

We got used to asking about the 1-10 scale just for fun, so we can compare how accurate it was when it comes to actual tickling session.
More reliable gauge is the reaction to questions about tickling though

The worst judging is usually on their feet in my experience. So many times people turn out to be much less ticklish there than they think.
On the other hand, it's not rare when they are surprised to find out that they are more ticklish on their ribs (with a proper tickling technique) when it's too late

I like the one to ten scale for discussing my individual ticklish spots! So for example, my groin is my worst spot, so that automatically gets a 10. Then denoting the rest of my spots based on that. So my hips are a close second as a 9. My sides, 7s. My feet and armpits 6s.

AlexEmpire said:

I like the one to ten scale for discussing my individual ticklish spots! So for example, my groin is my worst spot, so that automatically gets a 10. Then denoting the rest of my spots based on that. So my hips are a close second as a 9. My sides, 7s. My feet and armpits 6s.

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Yes, forgot to say - a scale for each of the spots always. No use to ask about overall scale, of course.

Are people bad judges of their own ticklishness? I guess they are, but probably more so those who aren't tickled on regular or semi-regular basis. I've seen some girls who don't know to laugh when being tickled, so they just roar, yell or scream. They didn't know how ticklish they are because they've almost never been tickled before. Ticklishness can also depend on the tickler and his/hers relationship with the ticklee.

marbot said:

Ticklishness can also depend on the tickler and his/hers relationship with the ticklee.

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Its so much this and a couple more:

Different people react to different kinds of touch, tools. And every ler has its "best moves" that he/she will start with. So some will be a perfect match for a lee, others may not be.

Add in mood swings, alchool, being tired, etc.....you get too many factors which can absolutely change the way in which everyone reacts.

So I would not say that people are bad at judging their own responses. They judge from what experience they have had. If someone did tickle them like hell in the past, most likely it felt like hell. If you cant do the same in the present, its not really them who are not ticklish. Its a combination of several factors not working in your way.

Sometimes, its possible to really go around many of these factors and tickle the crap out of someone who did not respond to us at first. Many dont even take the time and care to find out if it can be done.

Sometimes, we are just not the right match for a lee/ler, and so it is. No point in taking it personal. It is not! Its chemistry / hormones / whatever....we will not "ignite" with some people.

From my past experience, I have found that after some time, most lees get way more ticklish then they expected with me. But this did not happen with all. I have also had situations where it shifted the other way....everything can happen and its not mathematics

As a couple examples:
. Once had a girl who claimed to be non ticklish on her feet. She did remain like that for lets say...close to 1 hour or so. I was tickling her somewhere else now and then, being playful, had some nice chat with her. After more or less an hour, I hit some spot on her feet and she squirms away.....this was it! from then on, she just got surprised and in a few seconds she was ticklish all over her feet and went down till she begged like a baby.
. On the reverse, I had a girl saying she was insanely ticklish on her feet, it was her worst spot and she could not take even 1 minute tickling there. Well...surprise surprise, she was ticklish everywhere but her feet....and she did stay like that for long....when she did change, damn, she just got non ticklish everywhere! And this was the same girl that was begging and squirming by me tickling her wais, legs, armpits....she was going down. Then suddenly, nothing!!! You know what did this change? It was the damn music playing on my laptop It was not even loud but it did a 200% change on her mood.

Lessons learned:
Shit Happens!!!!

So timing is paramount, I guess.

marbot said:

So timing is paramount, I guess.

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Can be!

Its really a puzzle to understand the human mind.
If you could know everything that can make someone react, and if your mind could process all the possible changes that may be happening.....

As we dont know and cant understand,

It becomes about timing yes

I agree. I really dont think im extremely ticklish because in my mind i dont think i react as wildly as some people do, but many people who have tickled me would say im lying lol

Of course, it's never that bad until it's happening haha

chicago said:

I agree. I really dont think im extremely ticklish because in my mind i dont think i react as wildly as some people do, but many people who have tickled me would say im lying lol

Of course, it's never that bad until it's happening haha

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This just screams you love to be tickled and would like to be even more ticklish
Does not mean at all that you are not really ticklish as you already are

Its a well known variation among "us"