A study suggests that being tickled could be enough to trigger an orgasm.
The first research of its kind carried out in Germany in which around 700 adults participated analyzed the relationship between being tickled and experiencing sexual pleasure.
The researchers found that nearly 90 percent said they felt some degree of sexual stimulation from being tickled alone and without other stimuli.
And one in four women and men reached orgasm exclusively through tickling.
Nearly 90 percent of participants said they felt sexual stimulation from tickling alone. For 25 percent, tickling was enough to reach orgasm.
The team found that most participants who found tickling sexually rewarding enjoyed being tickled as children, suggesting that childhood experiences could “shape the development of their fetishism.”
Sarah Dagher, an author of the study and a doctoral candidate at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, said PsyPost that the study shows that “the spectrum of what can lead to sexual pleasure is broader than we previously thought and extends beyond conventional concepts.”
The researchers recruited participants through a 43-question survey posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. Five ‘tickling fetish influencers’ also agreed to participate by reposting the survey link and pinning it to their profiles.
Over the course of 108 days, 719 people completed the survey, which was available in both English and Japanese. Of those responses, 193 were in English and 526 in Japanese.
The vast majority of participants (74.3 percent) were men, while 20.7 percent were women and the remainder identified as non-binary.
Most of the group: 73.3 percent came from East Asian countries, 13.8 percent from North America and 8.3 percent from Europe.
In terms of sexuality, 79.7 percent of participants were heterosexual. Bisexuals made up 10.8 percent of the population, while 2.8 percent were asexual.
About 26 percent reported that they had never engaged in any sexual activity.
More than half of the group (56.3 percent) were between 20 and 29 years old, and 14.2 percent were between 8 and 19 years old. Additionally, ages 30 to 29 made up 22.5 percent of the sample.
Overall, 77.4 percent reported feeling tickled and 44.1 percent said they enjoyed being tickled lightly or intensely.
Almost all participants (99.7 percent) said they used their hands as their primary tickling tool, while the rest preferred feathers, globes, brushes, etc.
Surprisingly, 88 percent of respondents said they felt sexual pleasure from being tickled without any other stimulation, and 25 percent achieved orgasm through tickling alone.
Dagher told PsyPost that he was surprised that “some participants reported that tickling alone can lead to orgasm without genital stimulation.”
Additionally, 70.1 percent of participants said they enjoyed being tickled as children, which may have made them more likely to feel pleasure as adults.
Nearly 90 percent of respondents said they took the most pleasure from the physical sensation of being tickled, while 42.2 percent fetishized the feeling of helplessness or submission it provoked. Other arousal factors included the tickler’s verbal teasing and the anticipation of being tickled.
For those who tickled, 91.2 percent were most aroused by their partner’s physical reaction, followed by 85.8 percent who liked the sound of their partner’s voice more. And 85.8 percent felt a sense of power through tickling.
The findings come as more than 80 percent of women report they cannot reach orgasm from sex alone.
The team noted that the study has several limitations, including that the participants are self-selected and are likely already interested in sexually stimulating tickling.
“This study is not intended to encourage or promote tickling as a solution to any sexual problem,” Dagher said. “However, our goal is to highlight the existence of a large, previously unknown community with special sexual preferences.”