Editing Tickling (section)

==Social aspects==
[[File:François Boucher - Le sommeil interrompu.jpg|thumb|François Boucher – Le sommeil interrompu]]
[[Charles Darwin]] theorized on the link between tickling and social relations, arguing that tickling provokes laughter through the anticipation of pleasure.<ref>Darwin, C. 1872/1965. ''The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals''. London: John Murray. (pp. 201-202){{ISBN?}}</ref> If a stranger tickles a child without any preliminaries, catching the child by surprise, the likely result will be not laughter but withdrawal and displeasure. Darwin also noticed that for tickling to be effective, you must not know the precise point of stimulation in advance, and reasoned that this is why most people cannot effectively tickle themselves.

Darwin explained why we laugh when we are tickled by saying, "The imagination is sometimes said to be tickled by a ludicrous idea; and this so-called tickling of the mind is curiously analogous with that of the body. Laughter from being tickled [is manifestly a] reflex action; and likewise this is shown by the minute unstriped muscles, which serve to erect the separate hairs on the body".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Loftis|first=Fridlund|author2=Jennifer |title=Alan|journal=Relations Between Tickling and Humorous Laughter: Preliminary Support for the Darwin-Hecker Hypothesis|date=April 1990|volume=30|series=Biological Psychology|issue=141–150|page=201|url=http://bf4dv7zn3u.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=RELATIONS+BETWEEN+TICKLING+AND+HUMOROUS+LAUGHTER+-+PRELIMINARY+SUPPORT+FOR+THE+DARWIN-HECKER+HYPOTHESIS&rft.jtitle=BIOLOGICAL+PSYCHOLOGY&rft.au=FRIDLUND%2C+AJ&rft.au=LOFTIS%2C+JM&rft.date=1990-04-01&rft.pub=ELSEVIER+SCIENCE+BV&rft.issn=0301-0511&rft.volume=30&rft.issue=2&rft.spage=141&rft.epage=150&rft.externalDBID=n%2Fa&rft.externalDocID=A1990EK42000003}}</ref>

Tickling is defined by many [[child psychologist]]s as an integral [[human bonding|bonding]] activity between parents and children.<ref name=Fagen>Fagen R. ''The Future of Play Theory: A Multidisciplinary Inquiry into the Contributions of [[Brian Sutton-Smith]]''. Albany NY: SUNY Press; 1995. pp. 22–24.</ref> In the parent–child concept, tickling establishes at an early age the pleasure associated with being touched by a parent with a trust-bond developed so that parents may touch a child, in an unpleasant way, should circumstances develop such as the need to treat a painful injury or prevent them from harm or danger.<ref name=Fagen /> This tickling relationship continues throughout childhood and often into the early to mid [[teenage|teen]] years.

Another tickling social relationship is that which forms between siblings of relatively the same age.<ref name=Fagen /> Many case studies have indicated that siblings often use tickling as an alternative to outright [[violence]] when attempting to either punish or intimidate one another. The sibling tickling relationship can occasionally develop into an anti-social situation, or [[tickle torture]], where one sibling will tickle the other without mercy. The motivation behind tickle torture is often to portray the sense of [[Authoritarianism|domination]] the tickler has over the victim.<ref name=Fagen />

As with parents and siblings, tickling serves as a bonding mechanism between friends, and is classified by [[psychologist]]s as part of the fifth and highest grade of [[Play (activity)|social play]] which involves special [[intimacy]] or "[[Cognitive science|cognitive interaction]]".<ref name=Fagen /> This suggests that tickling works best when all the parties involved feel comfortable with the situation and one another.<ref name=Moran>Michael Moran, ''Erotic Tickling'', [[Greenery Press]], 2003. {{ISBN|1-890159-46-8}}.{{page?|date=February 2022}}</ref> It can also serve as an outlet for sexual energy during adolescence,<ref>[[Sigmund Freud|Freud S.]] "Three contributions to the theory of sex." In: ''The Basic Writings of Freud''. New York: Modern Library; 1938.{{ISBN?}}{{page?|date=February 2022}}</ref> and a number of people have stated in a study that their private areas were ticklish.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/02/06/the-surprising-reasons-why-we-tickle-one-another/|title=The surprising reasons why we tickle one another|date=6 February 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref name=Selden>{{cite journal |author=Selden ST |title=Tickle |journal=J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=93–97 |year=2004 |pmid=14699372 |doi=10.1016/S0190-9622(03)02737-3}}</ref>

While many people assume that other people enjoy tickling, a recent survey of 84 college students indicated that only 32% of respondents enjoy being tickled, with 32% giving neutral responses and 36% stating that they do not enjoy being tickled.<ref name=Harris2>Harris C.R. and Nancy Alvarado. 2005. [http://www.csupomona.edu/~nalvarado/PDFs/CEM-1294.pdf "Facial expressions, smile types and self-reporting during humour, tickle and pain" (pdf)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923122129/http://www.csupomona.edu/~nalvarado/PDFs/CEM-1294.pdf |date=2006-09-23}} ''Cognition and Emotion''. 9(5): 655–669.</ref> The study also found a very high level of embarrassment and anxiety associated with tickling. However, in the same study the authors found that the facial indicators of happiness and amusement do not correlate, with some people who indicated that they do not enjoy being tickled actually smiling more often during tickling than those who indicated that they do enjoy being tickled,<ref name=Harris2 /> which suggests that the facial indicators are not produced in response to the same emotions as under typical circumstances. It has also been suggested that people may enjoy tickling ''because'' it elicits laughter as well as the feeling of being tickled. Social psychologists find that mimicking expressions generally cause people to some degree experience that emotion.<ref name="Harris" />

Excessive tickling has been described as a primary sexual obsession and, under these circumstances, is sometimes considered a form of [[paraphilia]].<ref>[[Havelock Ellis|Ellis H.]] Studies in the psychology of sex. Vol iii. Philadelphia: FA Davis Co.; 1926.{{page?|date=February 2022}}</ref> Tickling can also be a form of [[sexual harassment]].<ref name=Moran />