It might seem like the seat you pick on a plane is an arbitrary decision. It actually says a lot more about a person than you might think.
Although the ability to fly anywhere in the world is nothing short of a modern miracle, there are a fair few negative words people use to describe air travel. Uncomfortable, awkward, stressful, even scary for some. Plus, if you're traveling to some far away, foreign land, chances are you're going to be on that plane for a number of hours.
That's why the most important decision a passenger will make when aboard a flight is where they sit. Or the most important decision they'll make beforehand if a seat is pre-booked. There are a number of things which need to be taken into account. Where the emergency exits are, the proximity from the bathroom. Neither of those are the most important, though.
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The key decision is whether you'll be sitting in a window or an aisle seat. Sit by the window and you'll have a modicum of privacy, but will disturb the rest of the row every time you need the bathroom. Sit in the aisle seat and you have a lot more freedom, but lack the benefit of the potentially beautiful views out of the airplane window. It's quite the quandary.
Turns out which you opt for says more about a person than you might think. According to psychologists interviewed by The Telegraph, airplane passengers who prefer sitting by the window tend to be more selfish. They like to be in control and don't care too much about others. That would explain why they don't tend to care about disrupting the rest of the row whenever something's up.
Aisle sitters, on the other hand, are much more reserved. They also tend to be more restless and less likely to fall asleep en route. A separate study by Quartz also discovered more frequent fliers tend to opt for the aisle, while window sitters tend to be those with a lower household income. Next time you're picking where to sit on a plane, consider all of the above. There's more to the decision than you might think.
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