A new study from Germany claims to be the first to take a look at the tickle fetish community. The study was undertaken by researchers at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. It appeared in Frontiers in Psychology.
The researchers wanted to know how people incorporated tickling into their sex lives. Do they enjoy it light or hard? Is it just part of foreplay or the focus of the sexual encounter? Is it something enjoyed more by men or women?
To find answers they reached out to influencers in the tickle fetish community who shared an invite for participants online. Two of the influencers were Japanese-speaking and three were English-speakers. Tickle fetishism is apparently a bigger thing in Japan and around three-quarters of those to respond were East Asian.
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They managed to find 719 people to complete the 43-question study. Around 80% were heterosexual, with 10% bisexual. Only a handful said they were gay/queer and others preferred not to say.
Knismolagnia
The researchers explain in their introduction that there are two forms of tickling.
“Gargalesis involves vigorous and playful tickling, leading to robust laughter and uncontrollable reactions from the ticklee. In contrast, knismesis represents a milder and more subtle form of tickling, triggered by gentle touches or movements on the skin.”
Conversely, a tickle fetish is known as “knismolagnia.”
“Tickling has been studied as a tactile sensation in the context of playfulness in biology and documented as a form of torture in ancient Rome, therefore it appears that tickling can serve multiple functions and hold different meanings which made us wonder whether it can also be implicated in human sexual behavior,” explain researchers.
“There is almost no literature on tickling in a sexual context, except for a very few case reports. In addition, we encountered a tickle fetishism community online which made it possible to conduct this survey study.”
Power dynamics
The researchers say that tickling can be both a form of sensory play and an expression of power dynamics. The more vigorous the tickling, the more it slips toward sadomasochism, with one person taking on a more dominant role over the more submissive person being tickled.
Among their main findings, they discovered that women tend to be more ticklish “and prefer light tickling.”
“Notably, a vast majority of participants (99.7%) used their hands/fingers/nails as the primary tool for tickling, while other prevalent tools included feathers, tongues, and brushes.”
Around a third identified as ticklees, another third as ticklers, and a third as enjoying both roles.
The survey also asked about childhood tickling. Many psychologists believe fetishes have their roots in childhood experiences. Did those who got aroused by tickling as an adult enjoy being tickled when they were children?
The results were not clear on this. A third said they had not enjoyed being tickled as a child. However, those who enjoyed being tickled as a child were more likely to say they enjoyed it in adulthood. Also, just over half said tickling scenes in cartoons (i.e. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Popeye, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Lupin the Third) and on social media had played a role in discovering their fetish.
As for the body parts where people enjoy being tickled, this varied depending on the level of tickling.
“Gargalesis, a more intense form of tickling, was mainly focused on the feet, armpits, torso, and stomach. In contrast, light tickling or knismesis uniformly extended over the entire body including the back, neck, ears, genitals, and arms, among others.”
Asked what it was about tickling that they felt turned them on, respondents pointed to “feelings of helplessness and submissiveness (73.8%), as well as the anticipation of being tickled (72.4%).”
Just over half of those who were aroused by tickling said that other BDSM practices turned them on. Almost one in four (23.9%) said they could orgasm just by being tickled.
Vulnerability, excitement, and pleasure
The researchers conclude that the parts of our bodies that are most ticklish usually have an abundance of nerve endings. Stimulating these nerve endings through tickling leads to sexual arousal for some people, especially if they are already drawn to BDSM play or enjoy taking on submissive or dominant sexual roles. Both tickling and more painful forms of BDSM “evoke feelings of vulnerability, excitement, and pleasure.”
“This study makes a significant contribution to our understanding of tickling, moving beyond its traditional playful context to explore its associations with sexual behavior,” they conclude. “As the first systematic investigation of its kind, this research provides detailed insights into various aspects of tickling experiences, shedding light on the complexities of tickle enjoyment and its potential role in sexual behavior.”
They suggest future research could look at whether “personality traits and cultural factors” shape tickling preferences in sex play.
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