Recent research suggests that women go shopping whimsically and buy excessively during certain time of their periods. The study found that the probability for a woman to go on a shopping spree is highest during the 10 days before the start of a period.
Psychologists have explained that shopping for premenstrual women is a defense mechanism to cope with the negative emotions produced by the change in hormones. Later this week Professor Karen Pine will explain her study in front of a British Psychological Society meeting in Brighton. Her study involved 443 women of 18-50 age range who were asked about their spending habits.
In the survey 153 women were in the luteal phase (the later stages of the menstrual cycle). Among them, two thirds said that they bought items on whim, and over fifty percent women said that they overspent by at least £25 ($50). A few women even admitted at exceeding budget by £250 ($500) while shopping! Most women reported at having regretted later.
Professor Pine from the University of Hertfordshire said that women lose control over spending and buy both whimsically and excessively in the luteal phase. This unusual behavior of spending is in fact a reaction triggered by extreme emotions. The shopping results from the need to fight the depression and stress and make themselves happy.
She further explained that the reason for this is the change in hormones that is accompanied by the menstrual cycle. These results are more extreme in women with PMS. They saw randomness in the hormone levels of the brain which control the emotions. Therefore the outcome of the survey is as expected.
There is another possible explanation that women try to enhance their beauty by buying more items. This activity occurs during ovulation period (on average two weeks before the period begins) when women are most fertile.
The author of Sheconomics Professor Pine also said that other researchers found out that women have a greater tendency to wear more attractive dresses during the ovulation period. So she has concluded that if women want to start saving and control excessive shopping, then they should be aware of the week before their time of the month; it’s best if they avoid shopping during that time totally.
Source of the image: flickr.com/photos/chicoutletblog.
