Women not really more ticklish than men

[Tissueboy]

Hi all. I was reading through some reports of experiments done concerning tickling, and found that none of the four detailed research reports that I found mentioned any difference between how ticklish each gender was. And two experiments specifically said that there was no difference. ("Humour, Tickle, and the Darwin-Hecker Hypothesis" Harris & Christenfeld, 1997, "Right-sided asymmetry in sensitivity to tickle" Smith & Cahusac, 2001)

I'm not asking whether you all think one gender is more ticklish, but I'm wondering if it surprises you that an effect like that wasn't noticed? In other words, would you have expected a particular gender to be more ticklish? I'm just interested to see what people's pre-conceptions are. Personally, I would have expected women to be a bit more ticklish in general. Both experiments used female ticklers.

 

[Comfort Eagle]

I'm a lot more ticklish than my female friends except for the feet.

Maybe because you don't usually see a lot of guys getting tickled in public like you'll see girls poked in the sides and the like helps perpetuate the "girls are more ticklish" thing.

 

[Artoo]

We all have presuppositions according to our tastes.

As someone who is predominantly more 'lee than 'ler, I notice it more when guys are ticklish than when girls are (though more accurately, I notice female 'lers more than male 'lers). It doesn't mean that my observations are indicative of the population as a whole, I'm just prioritising my own desires.

 

[Deleted member 2452]

female ticklers is the key

if they had used oposite sex ticklers, the women would have been more ticklish. a very large segment of the population just can't let things like tickling out to someone of their same sex. i'm highly ticklish to female lers, but a guy ler wll leave me cold, and not even smiling.

steve

 

[texastickler]

I think it gets stereotyped a lot. I am incredibly ticklish if you find the right spot. I think it is an equal thing. It just seems like you see more ladies at the recieving end than guys.

 

[DLazarus]

I think it is equal between guys and gals too. I am very very ticklish all over and can be made extremely nervous by wiggling fingers before they even touch me.

 

[JesseinSD]

Weird. I did not see this post when I asked my question. Sorry for repeating.

 

[Tissueboy]

Well great minds think alike I guess.

 

[SillyMan]

I don't think there's any difference in gender, it's individual. Some women are not ticklish, and some men are hyperticklish.

 

[AmandaBear]

if they had used oposite sex ticklers, the women would have been more ticklish. a very large segment of the population just can't let things like tickling out to someone of their same sex. i'm highly ticklish to female lers, but a guy ler wll leave me cold, and not even smiling.

steve

Well, I think women in general, regardless of sexual orientation, are just more open to physical contact with other women. It all fits into that double standard in our society where the only physical contact that's acceptable for men is a handshake, a quick hug, or a strong pat on the back. =/ Most guys prefer physical touch with women, whereas women really don't care as much, methinks. 😛

 

[-Hari-]

I dont think actual ticklishness is gender specific, but I would imagine that more men than womens ticklishness is clouded by self awareness, the whole "appear to be manly" thing, for instance, im less ticklish in front of guys as it makes me uncomfortable for males to see me lose control, whereas I enjoy loosing control to women. when I was too young to care about this stuff, it wasnt a problem and I was my peak ticklishness at all times, and now its affected by situation. I think this situation is probably more common with males.

 

[milagros317]

I'm not asking whether you all think one gender is more ticklish, but I'm wondering if it surprises you that an effect like that wasn't noticed? In other words, would you have expected a particular gender to be more ticklish?

I'm not surprised. I would have expected variation within each gender to be much, much greater than any difference between the averages.