The Conservative Cave
The Bar => The Lounge => Topic started by: BlueStateSaint on August 14, 2013, 04:09:07 PM
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I found a link to this from Drudge. Interesting.
Shopping is a 'loop of loneliness,' study finds
NBC News
Published: Wednesday, 14 Aug 2013 | 10:57 AM ET
By: Ben Popken, NBC News
Sad shoppers are getting sadder.
Findings from a new study show when we're feeling blue and socially isolated, we shop. Shopping, meanwhile, makes us even more depressed and alone. To fix it, we shop—and the vicious cycle continues.
But there's hope. It turns out there are three types of materialists in this world—and for one of them, shopping is a "virtuous" cycle that actually decreases loneliness over time.
For the study, a sample of more than 2,500 consumers over six years were asked how much they agreed with statements, such as: "It sometimes bothers me quite a bit that I can't afford to buy all the things I like," and "I enjoy buying things that are not practical." Study author Rik Pieters, a marketing professor at the Tilburg University in the Netherlands, then placed the shoppers in different materialist buckets and tested them for loneliness.
After poring over the questionnaires and running the numbers through a series of formulas, the evidence showed that over time, and regardless of income, materialism was associated with an increase in loneliness, and loneliness was associated with an increase in materialism.
The rest is here: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100962304
Anyone want to vouch for this? :???: