Crowd sourcing the percentages:

[brotherted]

Understanding that terms like "ticklish" and "hate" are obviously subjective, I'm curious as to where the community puts these numbers:

• What percentage of adults are ticklish?
• What percentage of adults absolutely hate to be tickled, regardless of the circumstances?
• What percentage of adults have been sexually aroused by tickling (presuming the right person is doing it)?
• What percentage of adults are usually aroused by tickling (presuming the right person is doing it)?
• What percentage of adults have never experienced being tickled by a lover?

 

[WickedTouch]

Understanding that terms like "ticklish" and "hate" are obviously subjective, I'm curious as to where the community puts these numbers:

Gosh, this is definitely all guesswork, and as you said, there's a lot of subjectivity here. Here's my guesses:

What percentage of adults are ticklish?

90% – if we're calling "ticklish" being ticklish at any level that gets any kind of ticklish reaction or reflex on at least one part of the body. I'd say more like 75% if we're talking about something like fairly predictably evoking laughter or promptly trying to stop or avoid the sensation.

What percentage of adults absolutely hate to be tickled, regardless of the circumstances?

25% – About 1/4 feels right. A lot carry memories of negative experiences from childhood, many find it too childish and don't want to be associated with it, and many simply can't tolerate it. But I don't think as much as half absolutely hate it, nor so little that it feels rare.

What percentage of adults have been sexually aroused by tickling (presuming the right person is doing it)?

50% – That might sound high, but based on how the question was posed, I think most adults have tickled their romantic partner more than once, and in different contexts. I'm sure for many, many people it has occurred at least once. Probably just a foreplay experience and maybe wasn't even attributed to the tickling by them. Most cases were probably never or seldom repeated. Also, a lot of people get easily sexually aroused when touched in general, so it stands to reason that tickling would secondarily arouse them, especially if done by someone they are attracted to. "The right person" can arouse the majority of people in ways they otherwise would not be.

What percentage of adults are usually aroused by tickling (presuming the right person is doing it)?

10% – I think it happens more often than people think, but also, arousal does not fully equate to enjoying the experience. It is possible for someone to hate being tickled and be sexually aroused by it fairly consistently. How they feel about the total experience may more often be negative or dissociated with sexual activity even though they do become somewhat sexually aroused. If talking about sexually aroused in a way where they enjoy the total experience on a fairly consistent basis, probably less than 1%.

What percentage of adults have never experienced being tickled by a lover?

1% or less. It's a very common flirting behavior, it's a gateway to initiating touch, and it's playful and facilitates bonding. It's probably not very common at all for it to be a regular occurrence in romantic relationships, but almost certainly happens to the overwhelming majoraty at least once in each relationship, and so especially across many relationships.

 

[brotherted]

Gosh, this is definitely all guesswork, and as you said, there's a lot of subjectivity here. Here's my guesses:


90% – if we're calling "ticklish" being ticklish at any level that gets any kind of ticklish reaction or reflex on at least one part of the body. I'd say more like 75% if we're talking about something like fairly predictably evoking laughter or promptly trying to stop or avoid the sensation.


25% – About 1/4 feels right. A lot carry memories of negative experiences from childhood, many find it too childish and don't want to be associated with it, and many simply can't tolerate it. But I don't think as much as half absolutely hate it, nor so little that it feels rare.


50% – That might sound high, but based on how the question was posed, I think most adults have tickled their romantic partner more than once, and in different contexts. I'm sure for many, many people it has occurred at least once. Probably just a foreplay experience and maybe wasn't even attributed to the tickling by them. Most cases were probably never or seldom repeated. Also, a lot of people get easily sexually aroused when touched in general, so it stands to reason that tickling would secondarily arouse them, especially if done by someone they are attracted to. "The right person" can arouse the majority of people in ways they otherwise would not be.


10% – I think it happens more often than people think, but also, arousal does not fully equate to enjoying the experience. It is possible for someone to hate being tickled and be sexually aroused by it fairly consistently. How they feel about the total experience may more often be negative or dissociated with sexual activity even though they do become somewhat sexually aroused. If talking about sexually aroused in a way where they enjoy the total experience on a fairly consistent basis, probably less than 1%.


1% or less. It's a very common flirting behavior, it's a gateway to initiating touch, and it's playful and facilitates bonding. It's probably not very common at all for it to be a regular occurrence in romantic relationships, but almost certainly happens to the overwhelming majoraty at least once in each relationship, and so especially across many relationships.

Thanks for the thoughtful, analytical responses.

I'd say I agree with your middle answers, but would disagree with the first and last.
I think more aren't ticklish at all -- if we're talking about adults -- say 20%.

And adults never being tickled by a lover -- I think that's far higher... maybe 30%.

 

[WickedTouch]

Thanks for the thoughtful, analytical responses.

I'd say I agree with your middle answers, but would disagree with the first and last.
I think more aren't ticklish at all -- if we're talking about adults -- say 20%.

And adults never being tickled by a lover -- I think that's far higher... maybe 30%.

You're very welcome 🙂. Yeah, certainly could be! One thing that makes that last one so much harder at the individual level is cultural and sub-cultural considerations. I don't know if I know anyone in my personal life that hasn't been tickled by their significant other or a past one. But that could totally just be my experience and someone else might know several people who've never been tickled in that context. It's interesting for sure. Same for the first question, too, really. When someone is not ticklish at all, it stands out to me as an anomaly because of how many have turned out to be ticklish in my observation. Maybe I'm just lucky that way, but I'll take it, whatever the reason! I'll definitely have to do more experiments for that one! lol

 

[brotherted]

You're very welcome 🙂. Yeah, certainly could be! One thing that makes that last one so much harder at the individual level is cultural and sub-cultural considerations. I don't know if I know anyone in my personal life that hasn't been tickled by their significant other or a past one. But that could totally just be my experience and someone else might know several people who've never been tickled in that context. It's interesting for sure. Same for the first question, too, really. When someone is not ticklish at all, it stands out to me as an anomaly because of how many have turned out to be ticklish in my observation. Maybe I'm just lucky that way, but I'll take it, whatever the reason! I'll definitely have to do more experiments for that one! lol

Come to think of it, it's not such a terrible normie introduction question, presented as if you're the passive participant:
"I was reading online someone who said 20% of people aren't ticklish at all -- and I thought that couldn't be right. What do you guys think the percentage is?"

 

[U.N.Owen]

You're very welcome 🙂. Yeah, certainly could be! One thing that makes that last one so much harder at the individual level is cultural and sub-cultural considerations. I don't know if I know anyone in my personal life that hasn't been tickled by their significant other or a past one. But that could totally just be my experience and someone else might know several people who've never been tickled in that context. It's interesting for sure. Same for the first question, too, really. When someone is not ticklish at all, it stands out to me as an anomaly because of how many have turned out to be ticklish in my observation. Maybe I'm just lucky that way, but I'll take it, whatever the reason! I'll definitely have to do more experiments for that one! lol

The Italian renfaire videos offer a kind of randomized experiment. They had a "not ticklish" sign they'd hang around the tourist's neck if they just couldn't get any reaction at all. It happened, but it was rare. (In one video, when they gave up they told the woman "it's ok, we'll get revenge on your friend" - which they proceeded to do... and the friend was very ticklish.) You see a wide range of levels of ticklishness in the videos, from wild to mild. But no reaction at all is probably something like 2%.

 

[mistee]

In terms of the love/hate tickling question, what I’ve read from the scientific studies done on ticking is that about 1/3 of the population love it, 1/3 hate it, and the final 1/3 are “situational,” eg, enjoy ticking only when done by a specific person.

The research is fascinating! Been researching what I can find on the Web for the past 30 or so years! Not a lot out there but what is out there has been interesting.