You Can Tell A Lot About Someone By The Seat They Prefer To Sit In On A Plane
What it means if you're team window or team aisle ... or, if you're one of the rare people who prefers the middle seat.
Nathamanee.P | Shutterstock If there’s one thing people are passionate about, it’s the seat they want to sit in on a plane. Some people are diehard window seaters, insisting that nothing beats being able to look out the window and be reminded that there is a world outside of the tiny tube they're traveling in. Others say sitting on the aisle is the elite choice because you have total control over your movements. And … well, no one really argues for the middle seat.
A TikToker named Gabi, who shares humorous content described in her bio as “the stuff you’re already thinking but funnier,” shared her take on the different types of people who prefer each seat on a plane, complete with mood boards. “There are only three types of people on Earth,” she argued before making a solid case for each.
Gabi described the kind of person who likes to sit in window seats and aisle seats in detail.
She started with passengers who prefer window seats. “Okay, you guys are typically a little introverted,” she said. “Probably wear comfortable clothes to the airport. You’ve probably written out a long text in a notes app before. Shine and feel most comfortable in small groups.”
Gabi explained that people who prefer the aisle seat aren’t terribly different, but they do have some key distinctions. “This person is more likely to do work on the plane,” she revealed. “They value efficiency — TSA PreCheck, they have Clear. Not in their coziest outfit … They’re also kind of prepared to take on the day.” She added that they might feel okay with being a little more social, but only when they want to be.
Last but not least, there are the people who prefer to sit in the middle seat (if they actually exist). “Then you’ve got the people who love a middle seat,” Gabi said, pointing to a photo of Hannibal Lecter in the video.
Surprisingly, it seems like there’s actual scientific evidence to back Gabi’s ideas up.
While Gabi’s descriptions of the type of person who sits in each seat on a plane may have just seemed like a joke, experts agree. According to The Sydney Morning Herald’s Traveller, Dr. Becky Spelman, the chief psychologist at Harley Street’s Private Therapy Clinic, explained, “Passengers who favor the window seat like to be in control, tend to take an ‘every man for themselves’ attitude towards life, and are often more easily irritable. They also like to ‘nest’ and prefer to exist in their own bubble.”
Meanwhile, Jo Hemmings, a behavioral psychologist, described people who want the aisle seat. “Aisle passengers are often more sociable and definitely more amenable as people,” she said. “They are also more likely to be restless flyers and less adept at sleeping on planes.”
Neither Spelman nor Hemmings offered any thoughts on middle seaters, probably because they are a myth, and people simply get stuck sitting there. On the other hand, Budget Air spoke to psychologist Brian Little, PhD, who said that the people who prefer a middle seat are very extroverted. “These are people who like social contact,” he said.
While there are people who will passionately defend their choice between a window and aisle seat, it seems like one is more popular.
Upgraded Points conducted a study to determine where passengers really prefer to sit on a plane. Conde Nast Traveler reported that 66.1% of the survey participants liked window seats the best, while 31.7% chose aisle seats. And, by some miracle, there were actually 1.7% of people who liked being in the middle seat most.
Richard Harris | Pexels
So, it seems that the window seat really is the most popular seat on a plane. Does this mean that the majority of us are secretly introverted and writing texts in our notes app while wearing comfy clothes? Probably not. That’s just a generalization, although it does carry some weight.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
