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Envy at 30,000 feet - Resentment of first-class passengers can be a cause of

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May 11th 2016, 12:05 by A.W. | WASHINGTON, DC

MOST instances of road rage come about in the same way. Drivers are frustrated

with other drivers who, in one way or another, impede their ability to get

where they re going as quickly as they d like. Air rage can t really follow

the same pattern, since passengers on a plane have no control over the speed

with which they ll reach their destination. Instead, it stems from a variety of

sources, including poor service, discomfort and flight delays.

But one of the most common sources of air rage has nothing to do with negative

experiences on board a plane. Quite the opposite. According to a new study,

passengers are far more prone to misbehaviour if they see that other passengers

are having a better experience.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the study

finds that passengers in economy class are 3.8 times more likely to become

unruly if the plane also contains a first-class section. If those passengers

have to walk through first class to get to their seats, their odds of

experiencing air rage double again. We suggest that physical and situational

inequality are built into people s everyday environments such as the modern

plane and that exposure to these forms of inequality can trigger anti-social

behaviour, write the paper s authors, Katherine DeCelles of the University of

Toronto and Michael Norton of Harvard.

It is not an altogether surprising phenomenon, given how humans tend to

experience happiness and its absence. A study from 2010 found that rising

economic well-being doesn t make the broader population any happier. Instead,

an increase in wealth brings happiness only if others aren t experiencing the

same boon. People are more content if their incomes rise relative to their

neighbours or colleagues or university classmates. They don t compare ourselves

to our needs; they compare ourselves to the people around them.

So it goes in the air. If an airline upgrades all the seats on its planes and

makes them considerably more comfortable, passengers might not appreciate the

change all that much. But if a passenger gets bumped up to first class and

enjoys more comfort than most of the others on board well, there s something to

feel good about. And as the PNAS study shows, that works in reverse: seeing

other people experiencing more comfort makes flyers prone to getting annoyed.

In an era in which airlines are increasingly investing in upgraded first- and

business-class experiences while packing as many price-sensitive flyers as

possible into the back, this sense of envy is unlikely to ebb. But the Boeings

and Airbuses of the world might at least consider installing

middle-of-the-aircraft entrances that don t require economy passengers to walk

past their better-heeled fellow travellers.