Why do people act so strangely at airports

This article is from dialogue exist Creative Sharing License.

Many of us have witnessed abnormal and even antisocial behavior at airports or in flights. These ranges may include benign behaviors such as sleeping on the floor or doing yoga before a flight information display system, to serious events such as early morning drunken arguments, and even attempting to open the airplane door in the middle of the flight.

These more sinister problems seem to have worsened in recent years as air anger incidents and flight shifts increase. Such incidents have led to calls for a reduction or even ban on the sale of alcohol at airports and on planes. Ryanair, for example, calls for two drink restrictions at airport bars to prevent drunken incidents on the plane.

But what are the airports that make our behavior differently? Let's take a look at psychology.

Many vacationers believe that adventure starts at the airport, putting them in a different mindset than normal. They yearn to start their one to two weeks of relaxing hedonism with a prosperous interest.

Others, however, are concerned about flying, which may cause them to take refuge out of character or asylum. The noise and crowds at the airport were of no help either. As the field of environmental psychology has shown, humans are very sensitive to our surroundings and are easily “overloaded” by stressors such as crowds and noise.

Stress and anxiety can cause trouble on a temporary and continuous basis. People who are anxious are usually more likely to get angry. Temporary anxiety often triggers an outbreak of anger.

I think we also need to look at airports from a psychological geography perspective. Psychological geography studies the impact of localities on people’s emotions and behaviors, especially urban environments.

In Celtic culture, there is a special concept of “thin place” – usually a sacred wood or forest – the veil between the material and spiritual worlds is thin. In a thin place, we are somewhere between two fields, neither completely in one place or another.

In the modern world of technology, airports can also be regarded as “thin places.” They are the boundaries where boundaries disappear. Literally, the national boundaries disappear. Once we pass security, we will enter no man’s land between countries. The concept of location becomes hazy.

In a similar way, time becomes a hazy concept of the airport. We are about to set foot on the plane, and we are between the two time zones, and are about to jump forward and even go back to the past. Some flights (such as Atlanta to Alabama) take earlier than departure time as they cross the time zone. Being able to manage our time gives us a sense of control over our lives. Losing this may be another source of anxiety.

In another sense, the airport is an absent area and is currently unpopular. Everyone's attention turns to the future, their flights when they arrive at their destination and their adventures ahead. This strong future focus often causes frustration, especially when delaying flights.