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| Economy |
| Shopping sprees linked to periods |
| 2009-03-30 |
| Women may be able to blame impulse buys and extravagant shopping on their time of the month, research suggests. In the 10 days before their periods began women were more likely to go on a spending spree, a study found. Psychologists believe shopping could be a way for premenstrual women to deal with the negative emotions created by their hormonal changes. Professor Karen Pine will present her work to a British Psychological Society meeting in Brighton later this week. She asked 443 women aged 18 to 50 about their spending habits. Almost two-thirds of the 153 women studied who were in the later stages of their menstrual cycle - known as the luteal phase - admitted they had bought something on an impulse and more than half said they had overspent by more than £25. A handful of the women said they had overspent by more than £250. And many felt remorse later. Professor Pine, of the University of Hertfordshire, said: "Spending was less controlled, more impulsive and more excessive for women in the luteal phase. The spending behaviour tends to be a reaction to intense emotions. They are feeling stressed or depressed and are more likely to go shopping to cheer themselves up and using it to regulate their emotions." She said much of this could be explained by hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle. And the findings were exaggerated in the women with severe PMT. "We are getting surges and fluctuations in hormones which affect the part of the brain linked to emotions and inhibitory control. So the behaviour we found is not surprising." Another explanation might be that women are buying items to make themselves feel more attractive - coinciding with the time of ovulation when they are most fertile, typically around 14 days before the start of a period. Most of the purchases made by the women were for adornment, including jewellery, make-up and high heels. Professor Pine said: "Other researchers have found there is an ornamental effect around the time of ovulation." Researchers have found women tend to dress to impress during their fertile days. Professor Pine, author of the book Sheconomics, said if women were worried about their spending behaviour they might avoid going shopping in the week before their period was due. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #10 Yea, that or mentioning she does need to wear make-up, or chocolate is no longer on store shelves. Say these things to your lady and its like welcome to your own personal hell, like falling into a fiery pit, or attack by fire ants. Personally i am very proud of my extensive wardrobe and shoes, Gawd help anyone who tells me to not to have pride in these things. |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-03-30 22:02 |
| #9 guys... I would not suggest ever mentioning this factoid to your lady. Never Ever. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2009-03-30 21:51 |
| #8 so if dressing to impress is how women game men around ovulation time, what is wearing our sunday best to church mean? is that like a ovulation false alarm? |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-03-30 21:47 |
| #7 Maybe too many clothes, maybe not. But a girl has got to dress to impress. People may not be slaves to hormones, but they sure are indentured. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-03-30 21:33 |
| #6 gold miners. send em to the landsend.com virtual model. no woman NEEDS a man to clothes shop for her unless the one of the following conditions are met: youre engaged, it really is her birthday, or she owns exactly 3 outfits and youre taking her somewhere fancy. Like Julia Roberts and its Pretty Woman time and youre Richard Gere. Normal women already have too many clothes already. |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-03-30 19:24 |
| #5 I believe the sequence goes 1. Cardmember 2. Member. Or so the Penthouse Forum letters bragged. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-03-30 19:04 |
| #4 So she should be asking all those lined up "are you a cardmember? an American Express Cardmember? or just an owner of a member? |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-03-30 18:57 |
| #3 Or wait till ovulation and the men line up to take them shopping. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-03-30 18:44 |
| #2 Problem "if women were worried about their spending behaviour they might avoid going shopping in the week before their period was due." Solution: go to www.landsend.com and sign up for the virtual shopper. Its a virtual anatomical replica of your body: measurements, hair, skin and eye color, complete with a hairstyle of your choice that you can dress up in outfits. Plug in your information and try different outfits on your "You" without the guilt. Enjoy shopping Ladies! |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-03-30 18:18 |
| #1 that's gotta lead to some Sharia tension in Olde Araby |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-03-30 18:00 |