Self-rating ticklishness

[brotherted]

In the instances on dating apps when the text repartee is already going well, I'll often suggest, "Want to play 5 questions?" to which the response is pretty much always "sure!"

And while I don't ask the same questions every time, I'll typically throw in something introspective or thoughtful as the 3rd question, to create space for the 4th question frame shift, "How ticklish are you on a scale of 0-10?" (Turns out, if you first show them an interest in deeper conversations, they then become much more comfortable with the tickling question. Surprise, surprise.)

Here's the real reason I'm posting this: The most recent woman answering my question #4 wrote "7." My theory is that 7 actually means "The real answer is more like 3, but I can tell you wouldn't have asked if you were hoping the answer was 3, so I'll grade-inflate my rating." The funny thing is that the most common answers are 3 and 11 -- maybe 40% each -- followed by 7 and 8.

So I ask you, gentle readers: What do you think "7" means? Am I right that it's kind of "I'm fun -- no, I'm really fun" PR? Or is that too cynical? 🙂

 

[milagros317]

Just guessing:
7 means I am only slightly ticklish but I am going to pretend to be more ticklish than average.
3 (or 2 or 1) means that I don't want to be tickled, regardless of how ticklish I am.
0 means that if you tickle me, then I will punch you in the face.
11 means that I love to be tickled regardless of how ticklish I am.

 

[brotherted]

Just guessing:
7 means I am only slightly ticklish but I am going to pretend to be more ticklish than average.
3 (or 2 or 1) means that I don't want to be tickled, regardless of how ticklish I am.
0 means that if you tickle me, then I will punch you in the face.
11 means that I love to be tickled regardless of how ticklish I am.

I can go along with most of that, although I think some percentage of the 11’s also don’t want to be tickled.

 

[saratk]

I’ve done the same thing and have been for 20 years, or I should say I did that 20 years ago. I actually created a “scale” I think 7 means pretty ticklish. Would for sure laugh but not extreme, 11 means I will freak out before you even touch me, 3 is I can hold it in and pretend like it doesn’t effect me, but I can be broken

 

[brotherted]

I’ve done the same thing and have been for 20 years, or I should say I did that 20 years ago. I actually created a “scale” I think 7 means pretty ticklish. Would for sure laugh but not extreme, 11 means I will freak out before you even touch me, 3 is I can hold it in and pretend like it doesn’t effect me, but I can be broken

Maybe I’m more cynical than you, but I think 3 usually means “My real answer is 0, but I don’t want to seem no fun.”

There are people, let’s admit, who simply aren’t ticklish at all — and yet I’ve never gotten a 0 answer.