Traveling is one of those small things that can actually teach you a lot about yourself (and the human race). You can’t be sure you’ve found your soul mate until you’ve traveled together at least once—and even then, as it turns out, where your beloved sits can reveal a lot about their personality. As the UK’s Telegraph reports, psychologists have strong feelings about what your preferred airplane seat says about you.
“Passengers who favor the window seat like to be in control and tend to take an ‘every man for themselves’ attitude towards life,” Becky Spelman, MD, chief psychologist at Therapy Clinic in London, tells the Telegraph. She adds that this often makes them “more easily irritable.” And behavioral psychologist Jo Hemmings explains that “champions of the window seat tend to be more selfish” but their window preference is also a sign that they’re “seasoned flyers who are more confident in disturbing others.”
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“Passengers who favor the window seat like to be in control and tend to take an ‘every man for themselves’ attitude towards life.” —Becky Spelman, MD
Hemmings and Dr. Spelman agree that the opposite is true for aisle-loving people, who would rather risk taking hits from passing flight attendants than disturb their seatmates when they get up.
You could also chalk all of this up to the fact that you really like the view or you have a really small bladder, so there’s that. Perhaps the real question should be, what’s the best spot for getting in a low-key sheet mask session?
Originally published on November 1, 2017. Updated on September 23, 2018.
Have trouble sleeping on planes? Here are four ways to get some shut-eye and how an Olympian stays healthy while in the sky.
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