Why Are You So Ticklish? | SiOWfa15: Science In Our World

Some of us want to kick people in the face when they so much as even touch our feet. The near thought of someone tickling them puts them in a panic, while others can be tickled to death and they don’t even flinch.

Why is this? Why are some people so ticklish and others aren’t? There are many theories behind this and we are going to dig a little deeper to see what we can find.

Some people respond to tickling with laughter. Not necessarily a happy laughter, but more of a panic. Dr. Robert Shmerling suggests people learn from other people to laugh while being tickled. It’s more of a social reaction that is learned than a natural one. This is known as social conditioning. I found this theory very interesting, considering both of my parents have no reaction to being tickled, while I am ready to kick someone in the face when they touch my feet.

Turns out sensitivity to touch has a lot to do with it as well. Some people have “tougher” skin than others. Therefore, they don’t feel as much of a sensation as others do while being tickled. Certain body parts like feet and stomaches are more vulnerable. It is thought that maybe if you learn to protect them as a child, you will be able to protect yourself later on in life. In the mean time, other scientists believe that the reason we are ticklish is because certain areas of the body were made to be more sensitive so they are placed correctly in the womb. Not only that, but their sensitivity emotionally as well. While some people ma feel it while being tickled, the way it makes people feel can vary. A lot of people feel extremely uncomfortable being touched by other people. Therefore it causes them to tense up instead of laughing.

According to Dr. Anthony Komaroff, Harvard Medical School, tickling bonds people. This would explain why mothers tickle their babies. The baby laughs when the mom tickles and smiles at it, therefore, kids try to bond over the same experience. This theory shows a correlation, as we talked about it class. Meaning, most babies who’s mothers tickle them, laugh in response. Is it the tickling that causes that, or is theere 

So is tickling a controllable reflex? Or something we learn to react to as a child?

No one really knows for sure.

One fact that is particularly interesting is that you cannot tickle yourself. One theory is if you know it’s coming, it will not tickle.  In fact, some studies have shown that people laugh more being blindfolded and not knowing where/ when they’ll be tickled. This could be from a sense of panic that the body feels when it does not what is happening, causing you to laugh out of nervousness.

There isn’t a definite answer as to why some people are more ticklish than others, but personally, I think that it is a combination of the two. I believe we are born with a sensitivity to being tickled, but our social conditioning reinforces that idea. An interesting experiment to reinforce this idea is to have mothers tickle their babies without smiling at them and see how the babies react. Will they smile still? Will they find tickling funny in the future? Only time will tell.