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

This has turned in to a really interesting discussion. Thanks for weighing in, everybody!

I think maybe I used to be a bad judge of how ticklish I am. I used to think my feet weren't ticklish at all. My boyfriend is a total foot fiend and believe me, he has plenty of tricks up his sleeve that proved me wrong. My feet are still not as ticklish as other spots, but he can definitely make me laugh myself silly.

Yeah, I've known several women who've claimed their feet weren't ticklish at all who quickly revised their estimation as soon as I (or someone else) actually tickled them. And this isn't some awful "every woman who says she isn't ticklish is lying" kind of claim, which is clearly bullshit. They weren't lying. Rather, I think they genuinely believed they weren't ticklish, and were as surprised as anybody (maybe more) when they turned out to be very ticklish after all.

Maybe a little, not in my case though. I'm being serious when I say a brick is more ticklish than me.

It's an interesting topic and I agree with much of what has already been posted here.

I agree that most people have only their own experience to go on in terms of "how ticklish they are." Those of us who do a lot of tickling are somewhat better judges of comparable reactions, though we will still never know exactly how intense the feeling being tickled is of Person A compared to Person B.

I think it speaks to how difficult tickling is to bear even for those who, comparatively, are relatively "less" ticklish than others. You or I might be well aware, tickling someone, that she is somewhere in the average range compared to others we've tickled or seen tickled, but to that person, the tickling still feels unbearably intense.

The first time I tickled my college girlfriend she said, "I'm so ticklish....unbelievable..." Needless to say, that was very exciting to hear. The truth was that she was definitely ticklish, but nowhere near as ticklish as a lot of women I've tickled - probably middle/average range. She would squirm and laugh, but rarely laugh hysterically. Some of my favorite measures, doctors exams and pedicures, weren't that ticklish for her. But apparently the way it felt for her to be tickled was enough to make her think that she was "unbelievably ticklish."

One thing I'd add is that I think most genuinely extremely ticklish people know that they are extremely ticklish. They may not want to TELL YOU that....but they know it. Most such people were tickled a lot at various points in their life and even if they aren't tickled as much now, USUALLY those kind of accidental tickling scenarios - pedicures, doctors exams, massages, etc - don't let them forget how ticklish they really are. The one exception to that is that there are some people who are much more ticklish when they know someone is "trying" to tickle them, and therefore accidental tickles are unexpectedly manageable compared to how they react when intentionally tickled.

And then of course you have some people who are extremely ticklish but dislike being tickled so much that they won't admit how ticklish they are! Like this one woman whom I asked, "Are you ticklish?," and she nervously replied, "Yes I am [pause...] a little." Turned out she was one of the most ticklish people I've ever seen lol.

mb7700 said:

And then of course you have some people who are extremely ticklish but dislike being tickled so much that they won't admit how ticklish they are! Like this one woman whom I asked, "Are you ticklish?," and she nervously replied, "Yes I am [pause...] a little." Turned out she was one of the most ticklish people I've ever seen lol.

Click to expand...

Yup, that happens!!

On the other hand, you also get the ones who are honest about it and straight warn you NOT TO TRY TICKLE THEM.
And many of these end up being 100% honest and off the scale ticklish.

Then from the ones who are honestly warning, you have both the ones who are giving a serious warning and the ones who are actually willing to give it a go.

lol it comes in all possible ways

And then women I think must be even more complicated vs us. I have been lucky enough to have known so many nice women through my life, in all shapes and sizes. I have seen so many reactions and in such a different way.....women are complicated!!! To this day I often find myself not knowing what is the right thing to do around women They are masters on saying something absolutely contrary to what they want....and then they are masters on being 100% honest somewhere in the middle.....Good luck with it

I'm not one to claim my level of ticklishness. I do however know of 2 of my weak spots. I am currently curious about testing/pushing my limits on seeing how ticklish the rest of me is and how long I can take it. So I can't say I'm a bad judge of it, just still in the process of finding out.

Yeahh you are so right! My boyfriend claims that somedays he is more ticklish than other days ( which weirdly can be true sometimes..!? Idk how..) but he drastically underestimates how sensitive he is. He is a little taller than me, but pretty muscular... But it is just so easy sometimes.

I even tend to underestimate myself sometimes. Occasionally, he *really* tickle tortures me, even tho I think I can take it, I am almost always reduced to a quivering and panting after laughing my lungs out.
So fun tho <3