New Test Shows If You Are a Shopaholic Jeanna Bryner
Senior Writer

LiveScience.com




A new shopaholic test could tell if you should you leave your credit card at home when heading out to the mall.



The test makes it clear that there's shopping and then there's over-the-top purchasing that can wreak havoc on a person's life. People who become preoccupied with buying stuff and repeatedly spend money on items, regardless of need, are commonly referred to as shopaholics. Scientists call it compulsive buying.


The new test was administered along with a survey that revealed that nearly 9 percent of a sample of 550 university staff members, mostly women, would be considered compulsive buyers. Past studies had put the incidence of compulsive buying somewhere between 2 percent and 8 percent 15 years ago, and more recently, at nearly 6 percent, the researchers say. Other research has found men are just as addicted to shopping as women.


The new test includes six statements, for which individuals answer on a 7-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree:

My closet has unopened shopping bags in it.
Others might consider me a "shopaholic."
Much of my life centers around buying things.
I buy things I don't need.
I buy things I did not plan to buy.
I consider myself an impulse purchaser.

Respondents who score 25 or higher would be considered compulsive buyers.


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