This sounds like the age old psych debate about "nature vs. nuture", which just boils down to genetics or environment. I tend to believe that you can't have one without the other. I can make solid arguments for both.
For most of us, our love for tickling goes back "as far as we can remember". I think that that is pretty amazing! Think about it....as small children (sometimes as early as 4 years old) we knew (on some primitive level) what turned us on! How incredible is that?! No one really thinks that little ones can be capable of that kind of thought...at least, I didn't. This makes me think that there is definite genetic input to this equation. I can't site a tickling genetic link as my example, but instead one of other behaviors. I grew up a thousand miles away from my father (since age 2). We had little to no contact on a regular basis (maybe I'd see him twice a year.) Only as an adult, I have finally made a real connection with him...and what I've found ASTOUNDS me. We are SO similar in personality, and preferences that it's spooky. I could sit here and make a list of all the ways that we mirror each other, but I think you get the point. So, how can two people who had barely any contact with each other be so alike? Genetics. It's the only explanation for it. Makes me kind of wonder if he has the same love of tickling that I do...but being that it's my Dad, I think I'd rather not know for sure (yuck!).
On the environmental side of the argument, I can remember getting into countless tickle fights with my brother. Actually, they weren't really tickle fights because I never stood a chance at retribution...he was 7 years older than I was. I don't have any super early memories of this kind of play with him, but I can remember it around elementary school age. I remember this play being a fun way that the two of us bonded and interacted with each other. So, was it this kind of play that formed my love for tickling, or was it there already? Who knows for sure. I do know that by early elementary school I was already seeking out tickling attention from men (father figure types, I guess.) Not to psych-babble too much about it, but I have often thought that the lack of a true father figure in my life often drove me to seek out the attention of other men to fill that void. And as a result, I got into tickling because that is often involved in the play between children and their fathers...or whoever is playing that role. I could be way off base here though....just a thought.
As kind of a side note, it amazes me that we as 'lees learn to manipulate so early on. Think about how many times you (if you're a 'lee) have instigated someone to tickle you....countless times, I'm sure. I was fairly adept at it before I even left elementary school. We are a crafty lot, aren't we? LOL. I guess we all learn how to get what we want...does that somehow fit in with Darwin's whole theory of survival of the fittest? LOL...probably not, although I don't think I could survive without any tickles in my life...so, maybe it does! 😀
So, I guess I believe that the two influences of genetics and environment both have a strong input on the person we become. I guess I could have saved all the psycho-babble and just left it at that, couldn't I? Oh well, I guess being straight and to the point isn't my strong suit 😉
Maggie
