Yes, shopping addiction does exist. This is the conclusion of an American team that has developed a score. It helps diagnose addiction and its severity.
Some call it buyer fever, others make it compulsive buying. American author Sophie Kinsella even pulled a book out of it – Confessions of a Shopaholic. But according to a study published in Frontiers in Psychology, shopping is a very real addiction. Its authors even derived a symptom severity scale from it.
Symptoms recede with agee
Diagnosing a shopping addiction is not common. And yet, the criteria developed by the team of Dr Cecilie Schou Andreassen are surprisingly close to dependence on psychoactive substances. To develop this scale, his research group first observed the behavior of 23,537 people. The analysis of this population made it possible to draw a portrait of “shopaholics”. “
“It’s clear that compulsive shopping is much more common in certain demographic groups,” says Dr. Andreassen. They are predominantly female, and addiction usually begins in late adolescence or early adulthood, and subsides with age. “
Extroverts more at risk
Buyer fever sticks more to certain character traits, the study also reveals. Extroverted or neurotic people will thus be more exposed than their peers who favor new intellectual stimuli, which are of a more open temperament. The latter would be more in self-control, in the avoidance of conflicts that can generate a buying fever.
“Extroverts, who are generally social beings in search of sensation, can use shopping as a way of expressing their individuality, or to increase their social position and their personal attractiveness, analyzes Cecilie Andreassen. Neurotic people, usually anxious, depressed or embarrassed, can use it to reduce their negative feelings. “
Shopping would then be a mechanism for avoiding or managing unpleasant sensations. But paradoxically, the researchers point out, delving into compulsive buying can create a vicious cycle.
Buyer fever is made all the more problematic because it is catalyzed by today’s society, according to Dr Andreassen. “Modern technology has made shopping very accessible, and easy, which can multiply the problem it raises – especially when combined with socio-cultural factors like social media, credit cards or shopping. publicity, ”she comments. The study does not say whether total withdrawal is the solution, or whether this original form of addiction will be added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
A 7-point scale
The scale developed by Cecilie Andreassen’s team focuses on 7 themes that closely resemble questionnaires intended for other forms of dependence. For each entry, 4 answers are possible: totally disagree (0), disagree, neither agree nor disagree, agree, totally agree (4).
– You think about shopping or buying all the time
– You buy to change your mood
– You buy so much that it disrupts your daily activities
– You have the feeling that you have to buy more and more to obtain the same satisfaction
– You wished to buy less but you did not succeed
– You feel bad if, for whatever reason, you have been prevented from buying something
– You buy so much that it affects your well-being
If the answer to 4 of these entries is “agree” or “strongly agree,” it is possible to conclude that it is addictive, according to Dr. Andreassen.
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