The experience of tickling and ticklishness is the same across cultures: new research

By Anina Rich, Professor, Performance & Expertise Research Centre and School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University

We’ve all been tickled. We all know our ticklish spots, and we all know how we respond when these are tickled: helpless laughter, attempts at escape, perhaps screaming and retaliation.

Is this a universal response among humans, or – like some other physical sensations and reactions – does it depend on culture? And for that matter, why do we react this way at all to this particular kind of touch?

In an attempt to find out, Netherlands-based researchers Ziliang Xiong and Konstantina Kilteni surveyed people from different cultures about their experiences of tickling and ticklishness.…

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