If you’ve taken long flights, you’ll know that watching a movie on the plane can’t exactly be described as an immersive experience. It’s almost impossible because the small screen constantly bounces in front of your eyes, the sound you hear has a metallic tone, and you’re frequently interrupted.
Still, you’ve probably seen other travelers wipe away a tear or burst out laughing on more than one occasion. Or maybe you’ve even caught yourself getting emotional over a movie that, had you seen it on land, wouldn’t have struck a chord.
In fact, a survey conducted at London’s Gatwick Airport revealed that 15% of men and 6% of women said they were more likely to cry when watching a movie on a flight than if they were watching it at home. The phenomenon is so striking that even a major airline has issued “emotional health warnings” before using in-flight entertainment.
Why does flying affect emotions?
There are various theories that attempt to explain why flying can make passengers more vulnerable to crying. Some claim that the cause lies in sadness at leaving loved ones, excitement about the trip, or homesickness. However, there is also some evidence that the simple act of flying may be the main culprit.
Everything seems to indicate that the simple act of soaring to 35,000 feet in an airplane can have strange effects on our minds, altering our mood and changing the way our senses perceive reality.
There’s no doubt that airplane cabins are a peculiar place for people. We mustn’t forget that it’s a strange environment where air pressure is similar to that of an 8,000-foot mountain, humidity is lower than some of the driest deserts on the planet, and the pumped air is cooled to temperatures as low as 10°C to remove the excess heat generated by all the bodies and electronic components on board.
Air pressure on flights can decrease the amount of oxygen in passengers’ blood by 6-25%, a drop that in a hospital would prompt many doctors to administer supplemental oxygen. For healthy travelers, this shouldn’t pose a problem, but it can be for the elderly or those with respiratory difficulties.
Some studies show that even relatively mild levels of hypoxia (oxygen deficiency) can disrupt our ability to think clearly. At oxygen levels equivalent to altitudes above 12,000 feet, a healthy adult may begin to experience memory changes and their ability to perform calculations and make decisions is impaired. This is why aviation regulations require pilots to wear supplemental oxygen masks if the cabin air pressure is higher than that found at 12,500 feet.
Hypoxia can also increase anxiety, in addition to exacerbating other negative emotional states, such as tension and discomfort, which makes us feel more irritable. Added to this, we feel more exhausted – what’s known as “flight fatigue” – and we have less self-control, making it harder for us to cope with stress or manage emotions. This could explain why we cry at movies that wouldn’t otherwise generate such intense emotions.
Added to this is the fact that airplane entertainment systems are configured to generate a sense of intimacy, which makes us more likely to become emotionally involved in the scenes we’re watching. It’s likely that having to focus more closely to avoid missing details of what’s happening, as well as having to pay closer attention to dialogue because we can’t hear well, allows us to focus more on what’s happening, our minds wander much less, and that draws us more into the story.
References:
Trapp, M. et. Al. (2014) Impact of mental and physical stress on blood pressure and pulse pressure under normobaric versus hypoxic conditions. PLoS One; 9(5):e89005.
Kourtidou-Papadeli, C. et. Al. (2008) High altitude cognitive performance and COPD interaction. Hippokratia ; 12(1): 84–90.
Muhm, J.M. et. Al. (2007) Effect of Aircraft-Cabin Altitude on Passenger Discomfort. N Engl J Med ; 357: 18-27.
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