Seating Arrangements

There's something comforting about seating, or so it seems. I've observed this in two areas: at home and at school. First of all, it appears that, even though we have not spoken about this or determined it in a logial manner, a seating arrangement has developped at the kitchen table in my family. We always take the exact same seats every night for whatever reason. Even more interesting, though, is that this phenomena is visible in larger environments such as school. After an initial skirmish, people feel compelled to lock into a seat and hang on to it for the rest of the semester. I'm not sure why this occurs.

While on one level there is a subconscious preference for seating on the right or left side of the class, and a conscious one of being close or far from the front, specific positionning is quite an interesting phenomena to observe. Could this be some type of social convention? Do we like to be acquainted with our immediate environment so we choose not to move around? Does a secure position make us feel safe?