research paper on compulsive buying

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A review of compulsive buying disorder

Affiliation.

1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
PMID: 17342214
PMCID: PMC1805733

Compulsive buying disorder (CBD) is characterized by excessive shopping cognitions and buying behavior that leads to distress or impairment. Found worldwide, the disorder has a lifetime prevalence of 5.8% in the US general population. Most subjects studied clinically are women (~80%), though this gender difference may be artifactual. Subjects with CBD report a preoccupation with shopping, prepurchase tension or anxiety, and a sense of relief following the purchase. CBD is associated with significant psychiatric comorbidity, particularly mood and anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, eating disorders, and other disorders of impulse control. The majority of persons with CBD appear to meet criteria for an Axis II disorder, although there is no special "shopping" personality. Compulsive shopping tends to run in families, and these families are filled with mood and substance use disorders. There are no standard treatments. Psychopharmacologic treatment studies are being actively pursued, and group cognitive-behavioral models have been developed and are promising. Debtors Anonymous, simplicity circles, bibliotherapy, financial counseling, and marital therapy may also play a role in the management of CBD.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Compulsive buying behavior: clinical comparison with other behavioral addictions.

$\r\nRoser Granero,$

1 Ciber Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain
2 Departament de Psicobiologia i Metodologia de les Ciències de la Salut, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
3 Pathological Gambling Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain
4 Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
5 Nursing Department of Mental Health, Public Health, Maternal and Child Health, Nursing School, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
6 Ciber de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain

Compulsive buying behavior (CBB) has been recognized as a prevalent mental health disorder, yet its categorization into classification systems remains unsettled. The objective of this study was to assess the sociodemographic and clinic variables related to the CBB phenotype compared to other behavioral addictions. Three thousand three hundred and twenty four treatment-seeking patients were classified in five groups: CBB, sexual addiction, Internet gaming disorder, Internet addiction, and gambling disorder. CBB was characterized by a higher proportion of women, higher levels of psychopathology, and higher levels in the personality traits of novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, persistence, and cooperativeness compared to other behavioral addictions. Results outline the heterogeneity in the clinical profiles of patients diagnosed with different behavioral addiction subtypes and shed new light on the primary mechanisms of CBB.

Introduction

Compulsive buying behavior (CBB), otherwise known as shopping addiction, pathological buying or compulsive buying disorder, is a mental health condition characterized by the persistent, excessive, impulsive, and uncontrollable purchase of products in spite of severe psychological, social, occupational, financial consequences ( Müller et al., 2015b ). Whereas, ordinary non-addicted consumers state value and usefulness as their primary motives for shopping, compulsive buyers make purchases in order to improve their mood, cope with stress, gain social approval/recognition, and improve their self-image ( Lejoyeux and Weinstein, 2010 ; Karim and Chaudhri, 2012 ; McQueen et al., 2014 ; Roberts et al., 2014 ). Although the aftermath of protracted CBB includes feelings of regret/remorse over purchases, shame, guilt, legal and financial problems, and interpersonal difficulties, people with CBB fail in their attempts to stop compulsive buying ( Konkolý Thege et al., 2015 ).

The frequency of CBB has increased worldwide during the two last decades. A recent meta-analysis estimated a pooled prevalence of 4.9% for CBB in adult representative samples, with higher ratios for university students, those of non-community origin and shopping-specific participants ( Maraz et al., 2015 ). However, prevalence estimations in epidemiological research vary and can range from 1 to 30% depending on the type of sample studied ( Basu et al., 2011 ).

One major difficulty in estimating CBB prevalence is that the categorization of this psychopathological condition in international classification systems continues to be debated and consensus on diagnosis criteria has yet to be reached. As a matter of fact, the concept of “addiction” itself was a contentious subject matter in the preparation of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013 ; Piquet-Pessôa et al., 2014 ). Currently the available operational definitions for CBB have relied on similarities with disorders in the impulsive control spectrum ( Potenza, 2014 ; Robbins and Clark, 2015 ), mainly linked to substance use disorders ( Grant et al., 2013 ), obsessive-compulsive disorder ( Weinstein et al., 2015 ), eating disorders ( Fernández-Aranda et al., 2006 , 2008 ; Jiménez-Murcia et al., 2015 ) and other behavioral addictions such as gambling disorder ( Black et al., 2010 ), Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and Internet addiction ( Suissa, 2015 ; Trotzke et al., 2015 ), and sexual addiction ( Derbyshire and Grant, 2015 ; Farré et al., 2015 ).

The specific etiology of CBB is still unknown. Diverse factors have been proposed as likely contributors and the few CBB studies conducted to date have largely been centered on neurobiological factors, with research on genetic factors and CBB being nonexistent. As in substance use disorders, brain imaging studies in people with CBB and other behavioral addictions have consistently found abnormalities in frontoparietal regions, reward processing, and limbic systems ( Raab et al., 2011 ; Baik, 2013 ; Leeman and Potenza, 2013 ; Probst and van Eimeren, 2013 ; Vanderah and Sandweiss, 2015 ). However, the presently available neurological evidence does not fully explain how concrete neural mechanisms and cognitive processes can cause normal-shopping behavior to become addictive in the absence of exogenous drug stimulation ( Clark, 2014 ; Engel and Caceda, 2015 ). Unlike in other addictive conditions, it has been stated that the development of CBB depends on the presence of particular cultural mechanisms, such as a market-based economy, a wide variety of available goods, disposable income, and materialistic values ( Unger et al., 2014 ).

Regarding the CBB phenotype, research studies highlight shared common features with other behavioral addictions ( El-Guebaly et al., 2012 ; Choi et al., 2014 ; Grant and Chamberlain, 2014 ; Di Nicola et al., 2015 ). Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory, which has been applied to other behavioral addictive disorders, argues that high levels of behavioral approach system (BAS) predispose individuals to engage in impulsive behaviors ( Franken et al., 2006 ). It has also been used to explain the addictive processes underlying CBB: both reinforcement-punishment systems seem to participate in the onset and development of this disorder ( Davenport et al., 2012 ). Although in clinical samples, a greater association has been found between this disorder and higher levels of behavioral activation ( Claes et al., 2010 ; Müller et al., 2014 ). Furthermore, dysfunctional emotion regulation also seems to be implied in the phenotype of behavioral addictions, particularly in aspects such as managing cravings and withdrawal symptoms( Kellett et al., 2009 ; Williams and Grisham, 2012 ).

The early onset of problematic behavior is also considered a common feature of these addictive activities, and epidemiological research has found that addictive behaviors tend to become problematic in late adolescence ( Balogh et al., 2013 ; Maraz et al., 2015 ). It is during this stage of development when impulsivity and risky behaviors may be most socially tolerated or even promoted by peers, which could constitute a potential risk factor for developing an addiction ( Dayan et al., 2010 ; Hartston, 2012 ). It must be highlighted however that some representative surveys in Europe in the recent years have demonstrated increases in the estimated prevalence of behavioral addictions in older adult populations ( Mueller et al., 2010 ).

The study of the CBB phenotype and related personality traits has also generated consistent results with other behavioral addictions. Research has shown that compulsive buying is characterized by high impulsivity scores, novelty seeking and compulsivity ( Black et al., 2012 ; Di Nicola et al., 2015 ; Munno et al., 2015 ), along with high levels in both positive and negative urgency traits ( Rose and Segrist, 2014 ), coinciding with the findings obtained in gambling disorder ( Janiri et al., 2007 ; Tárrega et al., 2015 ), IGD or in sexual addictions ( Jiménez-Murcia et al., 2014b ; Farré et al., 2015 ).

Finally, CBB is associated with significant comorbidity, particularly with psychiatric conditions that are also highly prevalent in other behavioral addictions ( Mueller et al., 2010 ; Aboujaoude, 2014 ), such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance use, other impulse control disorders, and eating disorders ( Fernández-Aranda et al., 2006 , 2008 ).

Heterogeneous features in both clinical and personality aspects have also been reported when comparing CBB with other behavioral addictions. Firstly, epidemiological studies point to strong sex differences ( Fattore et al., 2014 ): whereas CBB is more prevalent in women ( Otero-López and Villardefrancos, 2014 ), gambling disorder ( Ashley and Boehlke, 2012 ), and sexual addiction ( Farré et al., 2015 ) are more prevalent in men.

Regarding CBB patients' psychopathological state, to our knowledge few studies with clinical samples have assessed the specific differences between CBB and other behavioral additions. As such, the objectives of this study are: (a) to ascertain the most relevant socio-demographic and clinical characteristics associated to CBB in a large clinical sample of patients with behavioral addictions; and (b) to compare the CBB profile with other behavioral addictions (sexual addiction, IGD, Internet addiction, and gambling disorder).

Materials and Methods

All the patients who arrived at the Pathological Gambling Unit in the Psychiatry Department at Bellvitge University Hospital in Barcelona (Spain), from January 2005 to August 2015, were potential participants in this study. Exclusion criteria for the study were the presence of an organic mental disorder, intellectual disability, or active psychotic disorder. Bellvitge University Hospital is a public hospital certified as a tertiary care center for the treatment of behavioral addictions and oversees the treatment of highly complex cases. The catchment area of the hospital includes over two million people in the Barcelona metropolitan area.

All participants were diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria (SCID-I; First et al., 1996 ) and using specific questionnaires for each disorder. Interviews were conducted by psychologists and psychiatrists with more than 15 years of experience in the field.

The study sample included n = 3324 patients, who were classified into five groups according to their diagnostic subtype: CBB ( n = 110), sexual addiction ( n = 28), IGD ( n = 51), Internet addiction ( n = 41), and gambling disorder ( n = 3094). Mutual exclusivity criterion was required to include the patients in the groups, that is, the addictions considered in this study did not occur at the same time to allow for the estimation and comparison of the specific clinical state of each behavioral addiction type (39 patients were excluded from our analyses for meeting the criteria of having more than one behavioral addiction).

Evaluation of Current and Lifetime Substance use Disorders and Impulsive Related Behaviors

Patients were assessed using a structured clinical face-to-face interview modeled after the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I; First et al., 1996 ), covering the lifetime presence of impulsive behaviors, namely alcohol and drug abuse, comorbid impulse control disorders (such as CBB, sexual addiction, and IGD and Internet addiction).

Diagnostic Questionnaire for Pathological Gambling According to DSM Criteria ( Stinchfield, 2003 )

This 19-item questionnaire allows for the assessment of DSM-IV ( American Psychiatric Association, 1994 ) diagnostic criteria for pathological gambling (in the present study called GD). Convergent validity with the SOGS scores in the original version was very good [ r = 0.77 for representative samples and r = 0.75 for gambling treatment groups ( Stinchfield, 2003 )]. Internal consistency in the Spanish adaptation used in this study was α = 0.81 for the general population and α = 0.77 for gambling treatment samples ( Jiménez-Murcia et al., 2009 ). In this study, the total number of DSM-5 criteria for GD was analyzed. Cronbach's alpha in the sample was very good (α = 0.81).

South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) ( Lesieur and Blume, 1987 )

This self-report, 20-item, screening questionnaire discriminates between probable pathological, problem, and non-problem gamblers. The Spanish validated version used in this study has shown excellent internal consistency (α = 0.94) and test-retest reliability ( r = 0.98; Echeburúa et al., 1994 ). Consistency in the sample of this work was adequate (α = 0.76).

Diagnostic Criteria for Compulsive Buying According to Mcelroy et al. (1994)

These criteria have received wide acceptance in the research community, although their reliability and validity have not yet been determined ( Tavares et al., 2008 ). It's worth noting that no formal diagnostic criteria for CBB have been accepted for the DSM or the ICD−10. At present, it is recommended that CBB diagnosis be determined via detailed face−to−face interviews which explore “buying attitudes, associated feelings, underlying thoughts, and the extent of preoccupation with buying and shopping” ( Müller et al., 2015b ).

Diagnostic Criteria for IGD According to Griffiths and Hunt (1995 , 1998 )

To assess IGD diagnosis and to establish the level of dependence on video games, clinical experts conducted a clinical face-to-face interview considering the scale designed by Griffiths and Hunt (1995 , 1998) . This interview evaluated aspects such as the frequency of the problematic behavior, the interference generated in daily functioning because of maladaptive use of video games or the presence of tolerance and difficulties in abstinence management.

Diagnostic Criteria for Sexual Addiction According to DSM-IV-TR ( American Psychiatric Association, 2000 )

To assess sexual addiction, a battery of items was administered, which were based on the proposed definition in the DSM-IV-TR ( American Psychiatric Association, 2000 ) in the Sexual Disorders Not Otherwise Specified section (302.9). In making our assessment, the following clinical description was given special weight: “distress about a pattern of repeated sexual relationship involving a succession of lovers who are experienced by the individual only as things to be used.”

Diagnostic Criteria for Internet Addiction According to Echeburúa (1999)

To assess Internet addiction, a clinical interview that adapts the nine criteria from Echeburúa (1999) in yes/no responses was used. Four to six scores indicate a risk of dependency and 7–9 an already established problem. Internet addiction categorization is focused on excessive and continuous use of the Internet (social networking, watching videos, television series, and movies online, etc.). These items also explore the urge to carry out this behavior or the failed attempts to reduce its frequency.

Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) ( Cloninger, 1999 )

The TCI-R is a reliable and valid 240-item questionnaire which measures seven personality dimensions: four temperament (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, and persistence) and three character dimensions (self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence). All items are measured on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The scales in the Spanish revised version showed adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha α mean value of 0.87; Gutiérrez-Zotes et al., 2004 ). Cronbach's alpha (α) in the sample used in this study is in the good to excellent range (index for each scale is included in Table 2 ).

Symptom Checklist-Revised (SCL-90-R) ( Derogatis, 1990 )

The SCL-90-R evaluates a broad range of psychological problems and psychopathological symptoms. This questionnaire contains 90 items and measures nine primary symptom dimensions: somatization, obsession-compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism. It also includes three global indices: (1) a global severity index (GSI), designed to measure overall psychological distress; (2) a positive symptom distress index (PSDI), to measure symptom intensity; and (3) a positive symptom total (PST), which reflects self-reported symptoms. The Spanish validation scale obtained good psychometrical indexes, with a mean internal consistency of 0.75 (Cronbach's alpha; Martínez-Azumendi et al., 2001 ). Cronbach's alpha (α) in the sample of this study is in the good to excellent range (indexes for each scale are included in Table 2 ).

Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) ( Saunders et al., 1993 )

This test was developed as a simple screening method for excessive alcohol consumption. AUDIT consists of 10 questions examining alcohol consumption levels, symptoms of alcohol dependence and alcohol-related consequences. Internal consistency has been found to be high, and rest-retest data have suggested high reliability (0.86) and sensitivity around 0.90; specificity in different settings and for different criteria averages 0.80 or more. Three categories were considered for this study, based on the ranges defined by Reinert and Allen (2002) : null-low (raw scores under 6 for women and under 8 for men), abuse (raw scores between 6 and 20 for women and between 8 and 20 for men) and risk of dependence (raw scores above 20).

Additional Data

Demographic, clinical, and social/family variables related to gambling were measured using a semi-structured, face-to-face clinical interview described elsewhere ( Jiménez-Murcia et al., 2006 ). Some of the CBB behavior variables covered were the age of CBB onset, the mean and maximum monetary investment in a single shopping episode, and the total amount of accumulated debts.

The present study was carried out in accordance with the latest version of the Declaration of Helsinki. The University Hospital of Bellvitge Ethics Committee of Clinical Research approved the study, and signed consent was obtained from all participants. Experienced psychologists and psychiatrists conducted the two face-to-face clinical interviews.

Statistical Analysis

Statistical analysis was carried out with Stata13.1 for Windows. First, the comparison of the sociodemographical, clinical and personality measures between the derived empirical clusters was based on chi-square tests (χ 2 ) for categorical variables and analysis of variance (ANOVA) for quantitative measures. Cohen's- d measured the effect size of pairwise comparisons (| d |> 0.50 was considered moderate effect size and | d |> 0.80 high effect size). Bonferroni-Finner's correction controlled for Type-I error due to multiple statistical comparisons for variables measuring clinical state.

Second, a multinomial model valued the capacity of the participants' sex, age, age of onset, education level, civil status, and personality traits levels to discriminate the presence of CBB compared to the other behavioral addictions (gambling, Internet, IGD, and sexual addiction). This model constitutes a generalization of the logistic regression to multiclass-nominal-criteria (dependent variables with more than two categorical levels). Its parameters are estimated to predict the probability of the different categories compared to a reference category-level. In this study, with the aim of obtaining a discriminative model for the presence of CBB, this diagnostic subtype was defined as the reference level. In addition, the set of independent variables was simultaneously included into the model to determine the specific contribution of each variable in identifying CBB. The global predictive capacity of the model was assessed using the McFadden pseudo-R 2 coefficient.

Third, multiple regressions models valued the predictive capacity of the participants' sex, age, age of onset, and personality traits on the psychopathology symptom levels registered on the SCL-90-R depression, anxiety and GSI scales. The ENTER procedure was used to simultaneously include the set of predictors to obtain the specific contribution of each factor to symptom levels.

Evolution of the Prevalence of Consultations for Behavioral Addictions

Figure 1 shows the prevalence of patients attending the specialized unit for treatment because of CBB in comparison to other behavioral addictions (gambling disorder, sexual addiction, IGD, or Internet addiction). The prevalence of consultations due to CBB increased from 2.48% in 2005 to 5.53% in 2015, obtaining a significant linear trend (χ 2 = 17.3, df = 1, p = 0.006) and no statistically significant deviation from linearity (χ 2 = 7.27, df = 9, p = 0.609). Our results demonstrate that the prevalence of gambling disorder was significantly higher compared to the other behavioral additions. As a whole, the prevalence of consultations was higher for CBB compared to IGD, Internet, and sexual addiction (except for IGD in 2015), but these differences were low.

Figure 1. Evolution of the prevalence of consultations due to different behavioral addictions .

Comparison between CBB and the Other Behavioral Additions

Table 1 contains the difference between diagnostic subtypes and the patients' sociodemographical variables, as well as data on substance abuse. The frequency of women in the CBB group (71.8%) was clearly higher when compared to the other diagnostic conditions (between 3.6% for sex addiction to 26.8% to Internet addiction). Considering other variables, CBB was characterized by: (a) a higher level of education compared to IGD and gambling addiction; (b) higher prevalence of being married or living with a partner compared to the IGD and Internet addiction groups; (c) higher levels of employment compared to IGD; and (d) compared to gambling disorder, lower prevalence of smoking, and alcohol abuse and other drug use/abuse.

Table 1. Comparison between diagnostic subtypes for categorical variables: chi-square test and contrasts of buying subtype vs. the other diagnostic subtype .

Table 2 includes mean comparisons between CBB and other diagnostic subtypes for the variables measuring clinical state: patients' age, age of onset, and duration of the problematic behaviors, psychopathological symptoms (SCL-90-R scales) and personality traits (TCI-R scales). No statistical differences emerged comparing CBB with the sexual addiction group. Compared to IGD, Internet addiction and gambling disorder, the CBB clinical profile was characterized by: (a) higher mean age and age of onset compared to IGD and Internet addiction; (b) as a whole, higher psychopathological symptoms (many SCL-90-R scales obtained higher mean scores); and (c) higher mean scores in the personality traits novelty seeking, harm avoidance (in comparison with gambling disorder), reward dependence (in comparison with IGD and gambling disorder), persistence (in comparison with IGD and Internet addiction), and cooperativeness (in comparison with IGD and gambling disorder).

Table 2. Comparison of clinical profiles between diagnostic subtypes at baseline: ANOVA and effect size for pairwise comparisons .

Figure 2 includes two radar-charts to graphically summarize the clinical and personality profiles for the different diagnostic subtypes in the most relevant variables of the study. The percentage of women was plotted for gender distribution and the z-standardized scores in the own sample for the quantitative clinical measures (standardization was made due to the different ranges –minimum to maximum values– of these variables).

Figure 2. Radiar-charts for the main clinical variables in the study and personality traits .

Discriminative Model for the Presence of CBB Compared to other Behavioral Addictions

Table 3 contains the results of the multinomial model measuring the discriminative capacity of patients' sex, age, age of onset, education level, marital status, and personality profile. Compared to all the other diagnostic subtypes, the probability of CBB is clearly higher in women and individuals with higher scores in the personality traits novelty seeking, harm avoidance and self-directedness. However, it should be noted that scores on self-directedness were in the clinically low range for all groups when considering general population normative scores. The opposite pattern emerges in the case of harm avoidance, in that all diagnostic groups were in the clinically high range, with those with CBB scoring the highest. In addition, older age is predictive of CBB compared to Internet and IGD, higher education levels increased the probability of CBB compared to gambling disorder, and moderate levels of persistence (rather than low) are more likely in CBB compared to Internet and IGD.

Table 3. Discriminative capacity of age, age of onset, studies level, civil status, and personality profile in the presence of a diagnostic subtype (n = 3.324) .

Predictive Models of Psychopathology Symptoms for the CBB Group

Table 4 contains the three multiple regressions measuring the predictive capacity of the patients' sex, age, age of onset, and personality traits profile on levels of depression, anxiety, and GSI-index measured through the SCL-90-R for the CBB group ( n = 110). High levels of depression were associated with women and patients with high scores in novelty seeking, harm avoidance, and cooperativeness, but low levels in reward dependence and self-directedness. High anxiety was registered for women, and those patients with high scores in harm avoidance and low scores in self-directedness. High GSI scores were linked to women; obtaining high scores in novelty seeking, harm avoidance and self-transcendence; and low scores in self-directedness.

Table 4. Predictive capacity of age, age of onset, and personality traits in the psychopathology symptom levels for the CBB group ( n = 110) .

This study analyzed the specific characteristics of CBB compared to other behavioral addictions: gambling disorder, Internet gaming disorder, Internet addiction and sexual addiction. The results obtained in a large sample of treatment-seeking patients show that although CBB could likely be related to other addictive behaviors, significant differences in its phenomenology exist. CBB is characterized by a higher proportion of women, older age and age of onset, poorer general psychopathological state and higher levels of novelty seeking and harm avoidance and moderate levels of reward dependence, persistence, and cooperativeness. In this sense, CBB patients could be described as being curious, easily bored, impulsive and active seekers of new stimuli and reward, but at the same time showing pessimism and worry in anticipation of upcoming challenges. Several sociocultural contributors might also take part in the onset and maintenance of CBB, such as one's personal financial state, materialistic values, and the variety of goods available ( Dittmar, 2005 ). One should also take into account the fact that in hoarding, one of the most commonly reported symptoms is acquiring behavior, and that other studies have identified numerous similarities between the two disorders ( Frost et al., 2002 ). Clinical differences are lower compared to sex addiction and higher compared to gambling disorder, IGD, and Internet addiction.

Regarding gender, differences between diagnostic subtypes emerged in this study: the CBB group included a considerably higher proportion of women compared to other behavioral addictions. This result is consistent with other studies, which had also reported higher levels of compulsive buying in women ( Fattore et al., 2014 ; Otero-López and Villardefrancos, 2014 ). Possible reasons for the elevated prevalence of women with CBB are most likely related to the higher frequency of shopping as a recreational activity in this group and other related socio-cultural factors ( Maraz et al., 2015 ).

Results of this study also show that the proportion of patients attending our specialized unit for CBB treatment had a tendency to increase during the last decade, with a similar trend occurring for Internet, IGD and sexual addictions. However, these proportions of treatment-seeking patients were significantly lower compared to the number of consultations for gambling disorder. With regards to the evolution of the proportion of CBB consultations during the last decade, our results point to a drop between the years of 2010 and 2013, coinciding with the worst years of the economic crisis in Europe, and, more specifically, in Spain. Moreover, this decrease is consistent with results exploring other behavioral addictions requiring substantial amounts of money. In the case of gambling disorder, a significant drop in prevalence was also found during the European economic crisis ( Jiménez-Murcia et al., 2014b ), especially in 2010.

Patients' age and the mean age of onset of problematic addictive behaviors greatly differed between diagnostic subtypes, with older ages being found in CBB (mean age was 43.3 years and mean onset 38.9, nearly followed by gambling disorder and sex addiction) and younger ages for IGD (mean age 22.0 and mean onset 19.9 in this study). This finding dovetails with several studies reporting that young age is linked to problematic video game and Internet use ( Griffiths and Meredith, 2009 ; Achab et al., 2011 ; Jiménez-Murcia et al., 2014a ). Other variables, such as the endorsement of materialistic values among young people, should be considered in the scientific literature as an effective mediator of the young age of onset in some addictive behaviors, particularly in the case of compulsive buying ( Dittmar, 2005 ).

Differences in the psychological state and personality traits between the diagnostic subtypes are also relevant: CBB and sexual addiction showed similar profiles, with their psychopathological symptoms and personality scores being clearly worse than for gambling, IGD, and Internet addictions. Although in behavioral addictions, impulsivity appears to be a core feature ( Dell'Osso et al., 2006 ; Billieux et al., 2012 ; Lorains et al., 2014 ), multiple studies also show the existence of high levels of compulsivity ( Blanco et al., 2009 ; Fineberg et al., 2010 ; Bottesi et al., 2015 ). Impulsivity and compulsivity seem to be characterized by deficits in self-control capacity. Nonetheless, a key distinction between impulsivity and compulsivity is that the former is associated with immediate gratification and reward seeking, while compulsion is aimed at finding relief from negative emotions.

Overall, the findings obtained in this study show that this combination of symptoms (impulsive/compulsive) is especially prominent in CBB and sexual addiction. This leads us to postulate the existence of phenotypical and possibly endophenotypical overlap across these disorders. This results support previous research that has found numerous shared features in CBB and sexual addiction ( Müller et al., 2015a ) and other behavior addictions ( Lejoyeux et al., 2008 ; Villella et al., 2011 ). However, a notable difference in the sex prevalence of both disorders (higher proportion of women in CBB and of men in sex addiction) exists. This fact may partly explain why the similarities between these disorders have hardly been explored ( Álvarez-Moya et al., 2007 ). Lastly and quite possibly due to higher awareness of this condition, the number of GD patients was vastly higher than the other behavioral addictions examined in this study. Future studies should aim to use larger, more diverse samples in order to overcome this drawback. The role of materialistic values and hoarding are also topics that should be considered. However, our findings should be considered in light of their limitations and we stress that the features of treatment-seeking patients in a single unit for behavioral addictions does not necessarily reflect the actual frequency of an addiction in the origin population. The lack of consensus regarding the diagnostic criteria for the behavioral additions examined in the study also limits the generalizability of our results.

The results of this study suggest that CBB should be considered as a behavioral addiction, in the same manner as other excessive behaviors (such as sexual addiction, gambling, IGD, or Internet addiction). At present, an integrative model for describing the underlying mechanisms which lead to the onset and development of the CBB is not available. Additional empirical evidence is needed to identify core contrasting factors so as to clarify whether CBB represents a distinct psychiatric entity or is better conceptualized as an epiphenomenon of other psychiatric disorders characterized by addictive and/or impulse control behaviors. As with most complex, multifaceted-multidimensional processes, these studies should cover different areas: neurobiological (to recognize implicated regions, networks, and executive/cognitive functions), clinical (to dispose of the complete patient phenotype and to identify distinct developmental trajectories of the condition), and psycho-socio-cultural (to clarify what consumer-culture and financial resources interact with psychological, individual, and personality traits to lead to an increase in buying behavior).

Ultimately, a detailed understanding of the CBB will allow for improving prevention and treatment efforts. New empirical studies are required to gain a better understanding of the etiology of CBB and to establish more effective intervention programs.

Author Contributions

RG, FF, JM, ST, and SJ designed the experiment based on previous results and clinical experience of AD, MB, LM, NA, NM, and MG. RG, GM, TS, FF, and SJ conducted the experiment, analyzed the data, and provided a first draft of the manuscript. SJ, TS, GM, RG, and FF further modified the manuscript.

This manuscript and research was supported by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS PI11/00210, FIS14/00290, CIBERObn, CIBERsam, and Fondos FEDER) and PROMOSAM (PSI2014-56303-REDT). CIBERObn and CIBERSAM are both an initiative of ISCIII. This study was cofunded by FEDER funds/European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)—a way to build Europe and by a Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad grant (PSI2015-68701-R).

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Keywords: behavioral addictions, compulsive buying behavior, gambling disorder, internet gaming disorder, internet addiction, sex addiction

Citation: Granero R, Fernández-Aranda F, Mestre-Bach G, Steward T, Baño M, del Pino-Gutiérrez A, Moragas L, Mallorquí-Bagué N, Aymamí N, Gómez-Peña M, Tárrega S, Menchón JM and Jiménez-Murcia S (2016) Compulsive Buying Behavior: Clinical Comparison with Other Behavioral Addictions. Front. Psychol . 7:914. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00914

Received: 03 February 2016; Accepted: 02 June 2016; Published: 15 June 2016.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2016 Granero, Fernández-Aranda, Mestre-Bach, Steward, Baño, del Pino-Gutiérrez, Moragas, Mallorquí-Bagué, Aymamí, Gómez-Peña, Tárrega, Menchón and Jiménez-Murcia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Susana Jiménez-Murcia, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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What Do We Know When We Know a Compulsive Buying Person? Looking at Now and Ahead

Over the last few decades, research has seamlessly confirmed the marked multicausal nature of compulsive buying, since variables from different realms (e.g., family, social, and contextual domains) have demonstrated their explanatory capacity. However, it has been personality variables that have, to a greater extent, aroused the interest of researchers, leading to what is now a cumbersome richness of personal constructs of different nature that seem to require some arrangement under integrative frameworks. The proposal by McAdams under the suggestive title of “What do we know when we know a person?” is, in this regard, especially attractive and thought-provoking. McAdams approaches us to the person as a whole by establishing three differentiated levels (dispositional traits, personal concerns or characteristics adaptations, life story), and it will be precisely these levels that will become the structure we will use to address the state of the art on compulsive buyers. The location of the multiple personal variables analyzed at each of the levels with a common grammar will allow us to identify what it is known, as well as what remains to be done in each space. Lastly, suggestions for the future are given, with particular emphasis on advancing our understanding of the person from each of the academic vantage points but also the suitability of designing studies that integrate and/or build bridges between dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations, and life narratives. The hope is that research in the coming years satisfactorily integrates the different visions of the person to achieve a more comprehensive, nuanced portrait of a person with compulsive buying problems.

1. Introduction

In the last few decades, buying behavior has been under scientific scrutiny. Indeed, both theorists and researchers have witnessed the emergence and consolidation of a behavioral problem whose leitmotiv is the psychic need and/or the urge to buy [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Compulsive buying, pathological buying, shopping addiction, excessive buying, buying–shopping disorder, and compulsive buying–shopping have been some of the rubrics for a growing phenomenon that currently attracts the interest of many members of the scientific community interested in the field of health.

Compulsive buying is defined by a preoccupation with buying and shopping, by frequent buying episodes or by overpowering urges to buy that are experienced as irresistible and senseless [ 4 ]. It often turns into a primary response to negative feelings that provides immediate short-term gratification and even a way of generating or chasing positive mood but which ultimately causes harmful consequences at personal, family, financial, and social levels [ 1 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. In persons with compulsive buying seeking treatment, anxiety, depressive, substance abuse, and personality disorders, as well as other behavioral addictions (e.g., pathological internet use or pathological gambling), are frequent [ 4 ]. In the last few years, a great many epidemiological studies have been conducted in different cultural settings and with a variety of samples that seek to account for the scope of the phenomenon [ 8 ]. Thus, from samples of the general population [ 7 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ], shopping mall visitors [ 13 ], and university students [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ], prevalence rates of compulsive buying between 3.6% and 18.5% were confirmed.

In this context, and in an attempt to approach the status quo of research, it should be underscored that, in recent years, important research groups have been created in different countries, which, from a variety of disciplines (psychology, sociology, psychiatry, anthropology, marketing…), are working for a common interest: better knowing–understanding–explaining the phenomenon of compulsive buying. Therefore, this theme (compulsive buying) is being the object (or the subject) of multiple studies, which clearly indicates that we are before an expanding field with broad interests. Exciting work is underway. Current research, although it follows disparate paths, seems now more coherent and promising when compared to the past. An overview of the literature shows that family, social, and contextual determinants play a key role in the genesis and continuation of compulsive buying [ 19 , 20 ]. However, it has been personal variables that have, to a greater extent, attracted the interest of researchers. Traits [ 21 ], materialistic values [ 22 ], self-esteem [ 23 ], impulsivity [ 24 ], narcissism [ 25 ], depression [ 11 ], anxiety [ 26 ], self-efficacy [ 27 ], optimism [ 7 ], and coping strategies [ 28 ] have, among others, shown to be valid personal predictors of compulsive buying. Given such plethora of determinants from the scenario of personality, integrative frameworks are needed that make it possible to provide order and integrate the different influences, but these frameworks should also provide a “conceptual structure” from which to posit and base future research.

In this connection, although there are other proposals in the field of psychology of personality for the arrangement of variables [ 29 , 30 , 31 ], it is the level model put forward by McAdams in 1995 that seems to us particularly suggestive and useful to present and arrange the current state of the art about compulsive buyers.

The proposal by McAdams [ 32 ], although it has been qualified over time [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ], was presented under the original title of What do we know when we know a person? and it will be the cornerstone and the “buttress” that will guide the development and rationale of this study. Indeed, the different levels that the author posits will provide the structure and the context for accommodating the different personality units that have been developed in the field of compulsive buying so that we may glimpse what it is known in each space. Not least important for the progress in the knowledge about compulsive buyers, also from this model, will be reflecting on what remains to be done at each level of analysis and/or some suggestions for future research. It seems therefore necessary to briefly review the different scenarios or levels that McAdams [ 32 ] put forward. On the first level, we find traits. They provide a stable, comparative, and relatively decontextualized sketch of the person. This level locates the person within a series of linear dimensions with proven social meaning. Although this unit has gone through some critical times, in the last few decades, it has recovered its protagonist in the study of the persons thanks to the Model of the Big Five [ 29 ]. This model posits the existence of five dimensions: extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. The Revised NEO-Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; [ 37 ]), as an assessment tool for the “Five”, has been widely used in the field of clinical psychology and has led to some important findings. For McAdams [ 32 ], however, the usefulness of traits lays in that the information they provide is valuable for a first assessment of persons we barely know. The author sees traits as a “psychology of the stranger”, the usefulness of which is a first (and necessary) reading of the person.

Level II means moving from “having” (traits) to “doing” [ 38 ]. Under the generic label of “personal concerns” (or more recently characteristic adaptations), this level accommodates a heterogeneous set of units that are typically coached in motivational, developmental, or strategic terms. We find here, among other potential non-trait variables, such constructs as motives, values, personal strivings, personal projects, current concerns, life tasks, coping strategies, virtues, cognitive schemas, and development tasks. They refer, according to the author, to what people wish during specific periods of their lives and what methods they use (strategies, plans, defenses…) to achieve what they want (and avoid what they do not want). Their contextualization in time, place, and role is the key difference with traits [ 32 ]. In other words, behavior cannot be well predicted unless we are able to understand people well, unless we consider how people contextualize their own lives and how their lives are placed in time, place, and role.

The life story, expressed in narrative terms, makes up level III. A life story is, according to McAdams [ 32 ], a narration of the internalized, evolving self with a sense of unity and purpose, which adds the reconstructed past, the perceived present, and the anticipated future: the person weaves a self-defining narrative account, arranged in a time sequence full of scenes, characters, plots, and themes. This makes up the “material” that this person has been collecting throughout his or her life, which integrates and gives coherence to his/her life (roles, values, skills, challenges…). Beyond dispositional traits (the “having” of level I) and contextualized personal concerns (the “doing” of level II), the “construction of the self” (the identity) would emerge from this narrative lens of the third level.

Ultimately, the author suggests that, at the first level, is the stranger; at the second is the individual who acts and makes an effort in specific scenarios of their life; at the third, the person finds unity, coherence, meaning, and purpose in life. Besides, from this three-level framework of study of personality, McAdams [ 34 ] holds that people may be understood from three different psychological points of view: as actors, agents, and authors, so that the first level corresponds to the self as a social actor. Beyond this level is the self as a motivated agent, and lastly is the autobiographical author, “the self-as a storyteller who ultimately aims to burnish and synthesize episodic information about the self into a coherent and integrative life story” ([ 34 ], p. 273).

Therefore, once familiar with the academic vantage points from which a person can be studied, there only remains to ask ourselves (and this is precisely the starting point of this work), what do we know when we know a compulsive buying person? and, derived from this question, how can we know a compulsive buying person better? taking into account the findings of the productive lines of work that crowd the field. It is not solely about providing order to what it is known about the person with compulsive buying problems within McAdams’ markedly integrative model but also about sketching some lines from this conceptual framework that should guide future research to achieve a more comprehensive, nuanced portrait of a person with buying problems.

2. Level I—Dispositional Traits and Compulsive Buying

At level I, and despite the fact that work has been conducted on isolated traits such as impulsivity [ 24 , 39 ], sensation-seeking [ 40 ], or narcissism [ 25 , 41 ], for some years now, it has been the Big Five Model [ 29 , 37 ] that has had the highest heuristic value with regard to compulsive buying. An overview of the previous literature shows that there are differential association patterns with compulsive buying on the basis of the domain analyzed.

Thus, extraversion (the tendency to be sociable, warm, active, assertive, cheerful, and in search of stimulation) has been confirmed in a number of studies [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ] as having significant positive relationships with compulsive buying. The need to search for stimulation that characterizes an extrovert person could at least partially explain this finding. However, some studies [ 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ] also show that the association between extraversion and compulsive buying does not reach statistical significance.

As to agreeableness (the dimension of interpersonal relations, characterized by altruism, trust, modesty, and cooperativeness), results are contradictory. While some studies report a positive association with compulsive buying [ 46 , 53 , 54 ], others confirm a negative relation [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 47 , 48 , 50 , 51 , 52 ]. Tentative hypotheses could be posited to account for both types of findings. People with high scores in agreeableness, given their propensity to trust the intentions and purposes of others, are probably more vulnerable to marketing strategies and pitches, thus increasing the probability of compulsive buying. On the other hand, it could be argued that more agreeable persons, as people who avoid interpersonal conflicts, are less likely to get involved in this problem, as it usually leads to serious problems in their relationships with other people close to them.

Research on the relation between openness to experience (the tendency to be imaginative, creative, unconventional, emotionally, and artistically sensitive) and compulsive buying yields contradictory results. Some authors report positive relations [ 46 , 47 ], while other authors confirm a negative relation [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 48 , 49 , 52 , 53 ], and there are also studies [ 45 , 51 ] wherein the relation does not reach statistical significance. Explanatory hypotheses could be suggested for each pattern of findings. Indeed, while the buying experience could satisfy the curiosity and seeking of originality that characterizes those who score high in this personal dimension, it would also be plausible to argue that it is precisely their non-conventional ideas and values that drive them to seek and engage in other, different activities that do not involve buying.

A completely different picture emerges as far as the robustness of the findings with respect to the relation between neuroticism (the tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anxiety and depression) and conscientiousness (the tendency to be organized, strong-willed, persistent, reliable, and a follower of rules and ethical principles) and compulsive buying. An overwhelming majority of studies show a positive and significant relation with regard to neuroticism and a negative relation in the case of conscientiousness and compulsive buying [ 42 , 43 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 54 , 55 ]. Compulsive buying often becomes a way out of negative emotions, which seriously compromises self-control.

As well as the study on the broad dimensions of the Five-Factor Model, there is a recent study [ 56 ] that also analyzes the facets (an aspect that had not been previously explored in this field of work). The results demonstrate that subjects with high propensity to compulsive buying present the highest significant levels in neuroticism and the lowest levels in conscientiousness and agreeableness. Besides, all of the facets of neuroticism and conscientiousness and most of the agreeableness facets (namely, straightforwardness, altruism, trust, and modesty) establish significant differences between groups. A most interesting finding is that, even when the domain of extroversion and openness did not establish significant differences on the basis of vulnerability to compulsive buying, statistically significant differences do actually appear when looking at some of their facets, specifically, the facets of excitement-seeking, positive emotions, and assertiveness, corresponding to the domain of extraversion and aesthetics and ideas for the domain of openness to experience.

Another research path that belongs in this first level of analysis of compulsive buying people is that which has tried to identify personality prototypes based on the Big Five. In an interesting study [ 57 ], two distinct personality prototypes in treatment-seeking patients with compulsive buying were identified through cluster analysis. Specifically, subjects in cluster II scored significantly higher than those in cluster I on neuroticism and lower on extraversion, agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness.

A final, extremely interesting line of work that has undoubtedly contributed to shedding light on the dynamics of influence between the Big Five and compulsive buying is the one positing a variety of causal approaches. The models proposed generally consider the Big Five as exogenous variables, a wide range of variables with a potentially mediating role and compulsive buying as the endogenous variable. Specifically, and in order to summarize the main proposals, attention has been paid to whether materialism [ 50 , 54 ], impulsive buying [ 58 ], gluttony [ 59 ], hedonistic shopping experiences [ 47 ], negative perfectionism [ 55 ], or a past-negative time perspective [ 60 ] channel the influence of the five in compulsive buying. From the main results obtained in the different studies, it has been confirmed that conscientiousness has a direct negative effect on compulsive buying [ 47 , 50 , 54 ], while the positive impact of extraversion on this problem is mediated by materialism [ 50 , 54 ] or hedonistic shopping experiences [ 47 ]. Furthermore, a positive indirect effect of openness to experience is confirmed for compulsive buying through materialism [ 54 ], impulsive buying [ 58 ], and hedonistic shopping experiences [ 47 ]. As to neuroticism, evidence is found of both direct positive effects [ 50 , 54 ] and indirect positive effects through materialism [ 50 , 54 ], impulsive buying [ 58 ], gluttony [ 59 ], hedonistic shopping experiences [ 47 ], perfectionism [ 55 ], and a past-negative time perspective [ 60 ] in compulsive buying.

In short, an overview of studies on compulsive buying on the “dispositional traits” (level I of McAdams’ proposal) confirms that the Big Five have a notable heuristic value. Specifically, of the Big Five of personality, neuroticism emerges as the most important factor implicated in compulsive buying. There is outstanding evidence of its positive and significant covariation with this behavioral problem (its influences on the causal models reviewed are both direct and indirect). Conscientiousness appears to be, besides neuroticism, another extremely relevant Big Five personality factor for the understanding of compulsive buying (direct and negative effects in the different causal approaches). The role of the other three Big Five factors of personality in compulsive buying is less clear. At a correlational level, results have little consistency. Some studies find statistically significant relationships—positive or negative—while other studies find that the relationship lacks statistical significance. On the face of these contradictory results, we hold that further research is needed that contributes to the consolidation of empirical evidence and clarifies some unsolved issues. In this regard, it is particularly interesting for progress in this area of knowledge, as it entails a finer analysis than that provided by dimensions, to further study the facets (there is only one single study in the field, and its results clearly suggest that facets may capture unique personality information, but the results are overshadowed as the study then focuses exclusively on broad factors). Another pending challenge, as we have noted there is only one study, and which, in our view, may be both stimulating and productive for the field, is the search for personality styles (specific combinations of traits) from the Five Factor Model in compulsive buyers. Previous studies conducted in neighboring fields such as tobacco consumption [ 61 ] or binge eating and drinking [ 62 ] support this line of work. Ascertaining what combinations of traits increase the risk of compulsive buying clearly seems to be necessary to design any action proposal. Lastly, the possibility of relating the Big Five with variables or constructs from the remaining levels (personal concerns and life story) would be another avenue for future research.

3. Level II—Personal Concerns, Characteristic Adaptations, and Compulsive Buying

As well as taking into consideration the dispositional traits of level I (the individual as a social actor), the McAdams model [ 32 ] puts forward a second level that includes several facets that make up human individuality (goals, motives, values, plans…) contextualized in time, place, and role (the person as a motivated agent).

Specifically, a number of personality constructs have been analyzed. Materialism, conceptualized as a personal value [ 63 , 64 ], has generated considerable interest among scholars. The extensive literature on this issue confirms that regardless of the type of sample under study, materialism is positively associated with compulsive consumption [ 65 ]. By way of example, the study by Dittmar [ 22 ] is illuminating, as materialism is found to be the strongest predictor of individuals’ compulsive buying from three samples (adults who had contacted a self-help organization, younger adults from a multinational corporation’s consumer panel, and adolescents). Similarly, materialist values emerge as a significant predictive variable of compulsive buying in other studies conducted with university students [ 18 , 66 , 67 ], adolescents [ 68 ], the general population [ 9 , 69 ], and clinical samples [ 70 ].

In the last decade, based on the empirical confirmation of the strong link between materialism and compulsive buying, many studies have sought to clarify the mediating role of other variables. It has been demonstrated that variables such as self-esteem [ 71 ], life satisfaction [ 72 ], hedonic values [ 73 ], time affluence [ 74 ], anxiety and depression [ 75 ], money management [ 49 ], irrational buying-related cognitions [ 76 ], and hedonistic shopping values [ 77 ] channel the influence of materialism on compulsive buying.

As well as materialism, some authors have looked at the effect of other values and goals on compulsive buying. Specifically, and on the basis of the classification of values made in the personal values theory [ 78 ], the positive association of stimulation and hedonism with compulsive buying has been confirmed [ 79 , 80 ], as well as the protective effect of self-transcendence and conservation values in the development of compulsive buying [ 79 ]. Research has shown that people who are characterized by a reciprocal and egoistic value orientation show high vulnerability to compulsive buying, while prosocial value orientation acts as a protective factor for this behavior [ 81 ].

The study of personal goals or life aspirations [ 82 ] developed from the framework of the self-determination theory [ 83 , 84 ] has also been an important topic of research. In this line, the work by Roberts and Pirog [ 85 ] is particularly relevant: using a sample of university students, a positive association was confirmed between compulsive buying and extrinsic goals in financial success and attractiveness and a negative association with the intrinsic goals of self-acceptance and community feeling. Empirical support to the role played by this motivational unit is also found in other studies conducted using both general population samples [ 51 , 86 ] and university students [ 87 ]. Specifically, Otero-López and Villardefrancos [ 86 ] conclude that it is the people who are more vulnerable to compulsive buying that have the highest scores in the importance given to all extrinsic goals and in the probability of achieving extrinsic image and conformity goals. They also report the lowest levels in the probability of achieving intrinsic goals. In a later study, these authors [ 51 ] conclude that the extrinsic goals of image, popularity, and conformity strengthen the predictive power of personality traits in compulsive buying; more recently, Otero-López, and Santiago and Castro [ 87 ], confirmed that the life aspirations of image, popularity, and hedonism act as risk factors in compulsive buying, while the importance granted to the intrinsic goals of self-acceptance and affiliation operate as protective factors.

Similarly, and in line with the growing interest that the so-called personalized goals [ 88 ] have aroused in the last few decades, the appraisal of personal projects, i.e., the extended sets of personally salient actions in contexts that range from the daily affairs to the self-defining passions of the lifetime [ 89 ], has been the object of analysis in a recent study [ 90 ]. The results obtained allow us to conclude that it is university students with high vulnerability to compulsive buying who appraise their personal projects as more stressing and less significant and structured, and, besides, they see themselves as less efficient to cope with them. In particular, it should be noted that, on the basis of the dimension of the self-identity of the broad domain of meaning, the low scores by subjects that are more vulnerable to compulsive buying seem to reflect a prototypical characteristic of compulsive buyers: engaging in compulsive buying as a way of compensating and or restoring identity.

Within this level where a person is considered a motivated agent (what people strive for, value, believe about how well they are doing in that domain), research has been conducted, although with varying degrees of attention to the link of other constructs (self-esteem, self-efficacy, coping strategies) to compulsive buying.

Self-esteem has been for decades one of the variables that has best characterized compulsive buyers [ 91 , 92 ]. Looking back, the pioneering work of O’Guinn and Faber [ 93 ] stands out. Starting with a study that combines quantitative and qualitative methodology, they found that compulsive buyers not only score significantly lower in self-esteem, but also, in their narrative accounts, they continuously mention feelings of little worth as persons. The abundant literature around this personal construct has confirmed its relevance in explaining and predicting this problem [ 23 , 69 , 71 , 94 , 95 ]. In recent years, several researchers have added self-esteem, along with other variables, to their studies. For instance, Villardefrancos and Otero-López [ 18 ] underscored that, among students, compulsive buyers, when compared to non-compulsive buyers, obtained significantly lower levels in self-esteem, life-satisfaction, and optimism. Biolcati [ 96 ] concludes, in a sample of women, that low self-esteem is a significant predictor of compulsive buying, this relationship being partially mediated by the fear of being negatively appraised by the others. Other studies show that family conflict had a significant indirect effect on compulsive buying through self-esteem [ 68 ] and that the effect of perceived stress on online compulsive buying is moderated by self-esteem [ 97 ]. Lastly, a very recent study [ 98 ] shows that the relationship between positive and negative self-esteem and online impulsive buying is significantly weaker than that of self-esteem and online compulsive buying.

Self-efficacy has aroused the interest of some very recent studies [ 16 , 27 , 52 , 99 , 100 ] that confirm that compulsive buyers show low self-efficacy.

The study of the strategies that characterize the way persons vulnerable to compulsive buying cope with stress has been the subject of some studies conducted in the last decade [ 7 , 28 , 101 ]. These studies conclude that mental disengagement [ 28 ] and strategies of problem avoidance, wishful thinking, and self-criticism are risk factors for compulsive buying, while problem solving, cognitive restructuring, and social support are protection factors [ 7 , 101 ]. There have also been studies wherein coping has been considered the mediating variable. It has been confirmed that negative coping mediated the association between the perception of stress and online compulsive buying [ 97 ] and that the helpless coping style channels the anxiety felt due to COVID-19 and compulsive buying [ 102 ].

Lastly, generativity, or the concern and activity devoted to contributing to others and society [ 103 , 104 ], although it has been linked to sustainable and/or responsible consumption [ 105 ], it has received little attention in the field of compulsive buying. There is only one study [ 87 ], that concludes that generativity, along with other variables, such as the intrinsic goals of self-acceptance and affiliation, is a protective factor against compulsive buying.

In sum, in the field of compulsive buying, significant progress has been made with regard to a domain of human individuality that is closely linked to motivation and cognition. Research has confirmed the suitability of different variables (materialism, self-esteem, values, and goals) to better explain and understand the behavior of a person with buying problems. It is also true, however, that given the wide range of units susceptible of being included in this second level, much work remains to be done. Some suggestions: (1) personalize the motivation of the compulsive buyer from an analysis of units or “personal action constructs” (personal projects, personal strivings, current concerns, life tasks…) that help know what they pursue and how they give meaning to their lives; (2) clarify what strategies and tactics people with compulsive buying use to cope with and manage their reality; (3) add new personal constructs (generativity, for instance) to the study of compulsive buying; and (4) clarify how the “doing”, loaded with purpose and intent, channel or modulate the influence of the “having” on compulsive buying. This last aspect is particularly important not only to build bridges between the different levels (the notion underlying this study) but also to provide an opportunity to get to know better the dynamics, interactions, and synergies that bring us closer to a better and fuller understanding of the compulsive buying person. We believe that these aspects, among others, should be part of an agenda for the future.

4. Level III—Life Story and Compulsive Buying

The construction of identity as an objective, the life story being the vehicle for narrative, characterizes this level of analysis of the person. This level, according to McAdams [ 34 ], looks at the individual as an autobiographical author and suggests that the life story creates meaning and purpose in his/her life by constructing self-defining stories.

Despite the fact that in the field of personality, there is an important tradition in the use of idiographic methods for the study of individuality (case studies, psychobiographies, life stories), very few researchers paid attention to the life of a compulsive buyer.

The overview of the literature confirms the existence of a variety of studies that, using narration, illuminate the phenomenological description of compulsive buying and delve into the life story of compulsive buyers. A pioneering work in the field is O’Guinn and Faber [ 93 ] who interviewed compulsive buyers about a variety of issues (first realization of the problem, its course, its relation to significant life events, and a detailed description of a buying episode). The search for common answers and themes by compulsive buyers confirms, among other things, that feeling guilty, dissatisfied with oneself or unattractive are common expressions found in the narrative accounts made by these persons. In this regard, and in connection with the self-assessment domain, a person with a compulsive buying problem told the following:

“I have a brother who is now a dentist, who was everything Mother and Dad ever wanted without question. He was bright and he was very engaging, and he is very well to do and all of that. And then there is (informant’s name) and my mother did my school work ever since I was in fifth grade. She did all of my school work even my college papers. It’s not much to be proud of” . [ 93 ] (p. 153)

Scherhorn, Reisch, and Raab [ 106 ] conducted in-depth interviews with an extreme group of self-identified addictive buyers, taking an interest in key aspects of their life trajectory throughout the different developmental stages (childhood, adolescence, and adulthood) considering the buyer´s individual socialization and the societal conditions under which the buying behavior originated. The fundamental conclusion of this study is that buyers, from the perception that, for other significant persons (parents, close relatives, neighbors) material goods seemed to be more important to them than themselves, have learnt to compensate for their lack of self-esteem by buying material goods.

Other researchers [ 107 , 108 ], using phenomenological interviews, provide compulsive buyers with the opportunity to tell their own story and discuss both aspects of their behavior and their lives. In particular, Eccles [ 107 ] explored the personal stories of female addictive consumers to get to know how and why this behavior developed to the point of becoming the center of their life. The author confirms, from the analysis of the content of the interviews, the existence of different patterns or subgroups of addictive consumers (existential addict, the revenge addict, the mood repair addict, and the serial addict), motivation being the main factor of the lack of homogeneity in this problem. By way of example, it is very enlightening to read the account of a person about the impact that her marriage relationship has had on the development of addictive consumption:

“He loves to work (referring to her husband) and, in the early days when the children were very small and I was bringing them up practically single-handed, he would work Saturdays and Sundays. I would resent that so I would think, “Right, if he’s working, then I’m spending.” Now we’re in a vicious circle—I’m spending and he’s working. And I say, “Can’t you cut down the work? Can’t we go away for the weekend?” And he says, “How can I? I have to work to pay the bills.” In the early years we would have big rows about it” . [ 107 ] (p. 13)

The thematic analysis of the journal of an addictive buyer is the objective of García [ 109 ]. This journal is a great material to gain an in-depth understanding of addictive buying and the theories on the causes behind the behavior of the female narrator. The distant causes (in which the family plays a key role), together with the immediate or triggering causes of the addictive behavior linked to life-changing situations (maternity and marriage crisis), account for the appearance and evolution of this addictive buying problem. Specifically in connection to the family as a cause for her problem, the author of this diary explains:

“I ask myself now whether my problem is inherited, or whether it’s what I’ve seen, or whether I’m a dissolute person. Because my older brothers aren’t like that. The women are, though, they lied about shopping, they always said it cost less than it had; well, not when buying food; then, they said it had cost a bit more… My family, a total disaster. I don’t know to what extent this might have been an influence, a lot, I think” . [ 109 ] (p. 416)

The interview format of the life story proposed by McAdams [ 32 ] has only been applied, to our knowledge, in a single research project [ 2 , 110 ], the fundamental objective of which was to gain an understanding of how a compulsive buyer (fictitious name “She”) had been building her identity from her life events. Thus, throughout the interview, the narrator identifies the main vicissitudes that have characterized her life trajectory, how she has organized her past, perceives her present, and anticipates her future; which themes have been most present throughout her life; buying as a core element of her story; and, in short, how all this gives meaning and purpose to her experience as a person.

Since, as noted, this is the only study conducted with a compulsive buyer following the interview protocol proposed by the author of the model that underpins this work, we include below some aspects taken from her narrative account that allow us to approach the way She has been building her identity [ 2 ].

The protagonist divides her life story into three chapters, each of them with its own title: chapter 1, “Untroubled childhood and discomfort at school”; chapter 2, “Adolescence broken by the separation of my parents”; chapter 3, “Living alone, making money and buying”. As to this third chapter (the beginning of her problem), she says:

“I would sum up my most recent years, and I do think this is a different part of my life, from the moment I left home. I was in a bad place, sick and tired of everything and looking forward to being my own person… for me it was very important to find freedom and have a job. My money gives me the possibility to decide. Well, sometimes it leads you down an undesired path, just look at me, for example. For me, money meant that I could buy many things that I had always wanted to buy. I have always liked to look good. For me, physical appearance, what others see me like, is important in life. I bought handbags, purses, I have always liked those things and a lot of clothes at the beginning of all this (she means her current buying problem), and I was very happy with myself: it was my money and I spent it on what I wanted. Well, then things changed, little by little, you get hooked and what you buy, which at first made you feel very well, then you realize you have gone too far. You feel good when you buy, but then you blame yourself and often feel bad for having spent the money” . (p. 40)

After organizing her life story in several chapters, the protagonist identifies seven key scenes and episodes that she judged to be highly significant in her life (see Table 1 ), which allow us to somehow know who she was and who she is a person.

Nuclear episodes in the life story of “She” and fragments of the life story.

Nuclear Episode	Fragments of the Life Story
High point: “Having found a partner who had his feet on the ground”
Low point: “My parents’ separation”
Turning point: “The day I decide to leave my family home”
First recollection: “One morning of the Three Kings Day”
Scene from childhood: “Arguments with my mother about clothes and hairstyles”
Scene from adolescence: “Going to the high school”
Scene from adulthood: “When I went to live on my own”

Source [ 2 ]: Otero-López, J.M.; Villardefrancos, E. Adicción a la compra, materialismo y satisfacción con la vida . Granada, Spain, 2009. ISBN 978-84-9915-092-5999333.

It is especially interesting to note that, in the scenes from her past, the recollection of experiences with a high negative load (e.g., the divorce of her parents or her break-up with her first partners) intermingle with times of personal independence in which buying takes on special prominence. Other important elements should be also mentioned in the analysis of her life story: an optimist narrative tone and a determined desire for self-improvement (“…right now I try to be happy, focusing on my partner, my home, having a job and especially a quiet life…”). As to the thematic lines of the story, it is peppered with both agency themes (independence, self-expansion) and communion (intimacy, love, attachment), which in some parts of her narrative account seem to open a window into some displacement and change (“…now I am focusing more on people rather than on things because now I realize that back then I lived and worked to have more and more things and in the end I did not enjoy anything”). As to the theme, message, or core idea of her life story, the narrator responds:

“The theme of my story? Actually, I don’t know. I think I can be up and suddenly completely down. Sometimes good things come your way. Sometimes bad things. Something like that. Sometimes life makes things hard for me and then I look and despite how bad things are, which seem really very bad, there is always a way out. Well, in my case there is not a theme, there are several. I am here because of the buying, there are also my failures. In short, I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like I was in a roller coaster or playing roulette; that would be the theme …” . (p. 49)

In sum, the interpersonal conflicts in the life trajectory of “She”, which seem to have left an important and indelible mark, explain, to a great extent, her attempts to restore her emotional state and improve her self-image from owning certain material goods. Buying, as she explains, worked (albeit temporarily) as an antidote to her emotional distress:

“It used to happen to me when I had some problem or concern. Often, when I felt bad, anxious, depressed, my way out of it was buying. While I was trying clothes on, and I was focusing my attention on whether they look good on me I could not think of anything else. Then, at that tiny instant it was like being in other world and I forgot that it had been a bad day, that I had had an argument or that something was happening. It is always a bit like that: you feel bad, and you need to buy” . (p. 66)

In short, from the review of the literature, it can be seen that there are very few studies that using narrative methods have sought to look into the life stories of compulsive buyers. The need of this level to capture the integration of the person (looking at the world of meanings, making sense of the experience, the unity, the purposes…) is both urgent and necessary. Otherwise, we may bring back long-gone practices in the study of persons and look at the “parts” to the detriment of the “whole”. Research into compulsive buying should also encourage methodologies and approaches [ 111 , 112 , 113 ] that make it possible to collect and analyze the life stories of compulsive buyers to complete our knowledge of persons. The collection of life stories from compulsive buyers with different backgrounds (general population, clinical population) with different levels of chronicity, different cultures, different genders, and ages will allow us to transcend the idiographic to identify patterns of common and diverging characteristics in the stories. It will be an important asset for this level of analysis in particular and generally for the field of the study of compulsive buying.

Ultimately, we need traits, and while personal concerns should not be lost sight of, we must not forget identity (the life story as a narrative vehicle that makes it possible to integrate the past-present-future) if we wish to have a full, comprehensive approach to the compulsive buying person. At this point, there only remains to reconcile the findings from the three scenarios (traits, personal concerns, and life history) to be able to sketch a prototypical profile of a person with compulsive buying problems. High neuroticism, low conscientiousness, marked materialism (the importance of having), the prominence of extrinsic goals (particularly, image and popularity) to the detriment of intrinsic goals (especially, self-acceptance and affiliation), a stress-coping style wherein the passive/avoidant strategies tend to prevail (e.g., problem avoidance and wishful thinking) as opposed to other more active strategies (e.g., problem solving, cognitive restructuring, and social support), and a major undermining of self-esteem are some of the features identified by research. The appraisal of personal projects as highly stressing and with low meaning, structure, and efficacy, as well as a greater “self-focus” to the detriment of interest in and/or concern towards other people (low generativity), also seem to characterize, in view of recent findings, persons with compulsive buying. Their life stories seem to be tinged with a negative emotional tone, a recurring need throughout their life trajectory for other persons as figures of attachment and/or providers of support, as a result of different contamination sequences (good or emotionally positive events or circumstances that, with the passing of time, become bad or negative) and as a consequence of the presence of unresolved tensions and conflicts. In other words, if we wish to get to know well a person with compulsive buying problems, we need to coherently address and integrate into a whole the most stable aspects (traits) and the most dynamic ones (personal concerns and life story), the nomothetic perspective (individual differences) without losing sight of the idiographic and the temporality that characterizes their lives (the effects of the past channeled through memories and constructed stories, the goals and expectations that emerge from their view of the future, and the present).

One of the main pending challenges for future research is to build bridges that span the gap between life stories, goals, and dispositions. Any action, whether at a preventive or intervention level, should benefit from that knowledge.

5. Looking Ahead: How Can We Know a Compulsive Buying Person Better?

A overview of the literature in the field of compulsive buying has shown that there are many personal variables, different in nature, that compete to explain this behavioral problem. The need for order, integration, and coherence before this cumbersome wealth of determinants led us to opt for the model proposed by McAdams [ 32 ], as it is a particularly useful explanatory framework to respond to the question what do we know when we know a compulsive buyer? The dispositional and motivational/purposeful elements, as well as the most personological elements (identity), have become—following the approach posed by the above model—different spaces in which we have placed the different personal variables analyzed in this field of study. From this knowledge of what has been done and what remains to be done (field need), there only remains to draw some avenues for the future that may, to some extent, contribute to shedding light on the question of what to do to learn more about compulsive buyers and this is the very purpose of this section.

We sketch out next some points of reference that we believe may help articulate our proposal for future research:

(1) The McAdams model: the proposal we defend. The field of compulsive buying is currently characterized, as we have already pointed out, by an abundance of studies, scattered findings, and the great variety of personal variables that are analyzed. As a consequence, ordering this complex network of influences seems to be not only necessary but also urgent. Although there are other models in the domain of personality [ 29 ], we have based our proposal on the McAdams model [ 32 ], as it is a most suggestive conceptual framework and one that is extremely useful both for identifying and classifying what it is known about the compulsive buying person and guiding future research.
(2) Towards the “comprehensive understanding” of the compulsive buying person . Our proposal strives to facilitate the coexistence of different aspects (the broad and the specific, what is most endogenous and what is most situational, the statical and the dynamic elements) that need to be looked at to understand the complexity of the person and their behavior (compulsive buying, in this case). In other words, we believe that future research, while paying due attention to the study of isolated variables, should also allow for a healthy, integrative, and inclusive approach that brings together the different units that have emerged in the field to fully apprehend the compulsive buying person “as a whole”. Individual differences (level I), intentions or purposes (level II), and life story (level III) are, in our view, domains that need to be explored in depth. The purpose is therefore to complete the study of personal variables from a variety of analytical fronts without seeking complementarity and often using different grammars.
(3) Building bridges, linking levels. One of the main hindrances in the field of compulsive buying is the scarcity of works that link the personal units of different levels. Despite the fact that McAdams, in the initial proposal of his model [ 32 ], held that the levels on personality should not necessarily be related to one another, later McAdams and Olson [ 35 ] claimed, in relation to personality development over the life course, that “It is expected, nonetheless, that dispositional trait, characteristic adaptations, and narrative identity should relate to each other in complex meaningful, and perhaps predictable ways; for after all, this is all about the developmental of a whole person “(p. 530). Fortunately, in the last decades, in the field of psychology of personality, things seem to be changing and notable efforts have been made to link the different levels [ 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 ]. In this line, our proposal for future research in the field of compulsive buying also suggests this desirable and much longed-for integrative approach. Linking dispositional factors with intentions and purposes, without losing sight of the present–past–future dynamic that drives the life story will allow us to approach from different avenues what makes a compulsive buyer and how they work. Ordering and sequencing the influences (exogenous, mediating…); paying attention to what is shared (individual differences) without losing sight of one’s own; exploring methodological options that have not been tested in the field of study that make it possible to combine quantitative and qualitative elements (mixed methods, for instance) would be some of the pending tasks. In sum, our intention is to convey the notion that future research should, to some extent, echo Murray and Kluchohn [ 119 ] that every person is like all other persons, like some other persons, and like no other person, as the objective is to include all things that “add up” and bring us close to a better understanding of the compulsive buying person.
(4) Paying attention to a high-risk group: the young. The results of previous research confirming that young people seem to be prone to compulsive buying [ 8 , 12 , 120 ] establish the basis of the need defended by some authors [ 18 , 68 , 121 , 122 ] to design studies aimed at clarifying the scope and variables involved in the compulsive buying behavior of this risk group. In this regard, given the high probability that, at this age bracket, the phenomenon is at its initial stages, knowing what personal dimensions are involved in young-people compulsive buying will provide an opportunity to design early actions with some assurances of efficacy, thus stopping its progress. More specifically, the design and implementation of prevention programs focused on the critical analysis of how certain marketing campaigns contribute to “the creation of needs” and on reflecting on the socio-environmental repercussion of compulsive buying could prove useful to stop the involvement of the young in this problem. Encouraging intrinsic goals to reduce the orientation toward materialistic goals, as defended in some programs [ 123 ], seems to be part of the solution.
(5) Gender and culture: influences that must not be left out . While there is empirical evidence confirming that women are highly vulnerable to compulsive buying [ 12 , 22 , 106 ], there is no shortage of studies that, using samples of young people, have failed to find any gender differences [ 124 , 125 ]. Therefore, the important change in the roles of women in current society, the type of items that are bought, the new online buying modes, and even the study of gender differences in pathways to compulsive buying are factors that must be considered for future research in order to delineate the true impact of the gender variable. Shedding light on to what extent culture has an impact on the personality of compulsive buying (and vice versa) and assessing the cross-cultural differences may be a new horizon for future research in this field.
(6) “Identified” compulsive buyers: progressing in understanding the person. We also suggest a greater presence of samples of persons with compulsive buying problems in research, as this would undoubtedly provide an opportunity to gain a deeper and better understanding of the dynamics (evolutions, plateaus, and regressions…) that have accompanied the development of this problem. It will also become a fruitful meeting point for all three sources of knowledge of the person: “being–doing–having”. Only from this knowledge and from the analysis of the three levels in these persons (traits–concerns–life history) will it be possible to progress in the understanding of the compulsive buyer.

In essence and in line with the above (see Figure 1 ), we would like to reiterate that our proposal for the future seeks to identify some of the potential needs or shortcomings that may be found in the field of compulsive buying with the ultimate purpose of suggesting some potential avenues that may result in accumulative knowledge on this problem. The overview of the previous literature in the field has led us to identify promising strengths, needs, and lines of action. The objective is both to look into whether some tentative findings on which little research has been conducted are confirmed and open new research avenues. We, therefore, put forward some suggestions and possibilities.

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Evidence available with regard to the personal variables and compulsive buying in the light of the conceptual framework of personality by McAdams (1995) along with some integrative suggestions for the future in connection to the different levels of analysis (traits, personal concerns, life story) to study a person who is a compulsive buyer.

As everything seems to suggest that, in the next few decades, “the Five” will remain the protagonists of level I and will remain to be an important part of personality research, exploring their role (without neglecting the facets) and clarifying whether there are styles that make it possible to evaluate the potential effects of the combinations of these traits will continue to be a requisite if we wish to understand the compulsive buying person. Exploring the links between the personal variables at different levels (traits, personal concerns, life story) and compulsive buying is the second suggestion. Specifically, what it is proposed is not just shedding light on the joint explanatory contribution of variables from different levels (for example, traits, personal projects, generativity, coping…) but also designing causal proposals that integrate these influences. By way of example, we could mention, in the design and testing of causal models wherein the Big Five (or some of them) are exogenous variables, level II units (such as projects, strivings, generativity …) act as mediators and compulsive buying as endogenous variables. Making, coding, and analyzing the life story of compulsive buyers on the basis of motivational themes (agency and communion) and affective (emotional tone, contamination, and redemption sequences) meaning and structure would also be a fruitful addition to progress in the understanding of the phenomenon under study.

In short, organizing multiple forms of studying the personality of compulsive buyers, adding, and linking units from different levels of analysis, studying samples with special vulnerability to compulsive buying (the young), recruiting compulsive buyers that seek treatment are just some lines that we include in our proposal. Besides, recent studies [ 102 , 126 , 127 ] that have looked at the current COVID-19 situation confirm that compulsive buying has experienced an increase. Another pending task should therefore be to gain insight into the effects this pandemic has had on the onset, development, and exacerbation of compulsive buying. The making of a life story, this inquiry into how the person (the compulsive buyer) tells and connects their self-defining story to reflect their lives (and thus bringing us closer to their life reality by providing adequate responses to such questions as who is he or she today? How has he or she become who they are today? Where is he or she heading to? ...), extracting the idiographic (one’s own) whilst comparing stories seeking patterns (sliding into the nomothetic) are undoubtedly many additional goals for this future agenda that does not avoid the desirable federation between the qualitative and the qualitative. Being able to look at compulsive buyers from different scenarios, gaining insight into their lives on the basis of what we are looking for (traits, concerns, identity) and facing new ways of grasping and exploring the personal variables of compulsive buyers will probably be the gains of this. Special mention is deserved for the notion of building bridges spanning the different levels (domains) put forward by McAdams [ 32 , 34 ], in the understanding that the person (the personality variables) is a unified whole and that paying attention to just one of the parts (those with a shared grammar) entails major sacrifices (the meaning for the method, for instance). Although McAdams holds in a variety of writings that “there are no reasons to expect strong symmetry and consistency across the different levels of personality description for people’s lives are typically complex and often contradictory” [ 35 ], we defend that the “stillness” of the trait should most likely be supplemented by the “intention” and also by the “life purpose” to better capture the essence of the person with compulsive buying problems. But there is more. The findings will most probably have the potential, or at least this is our hope, to better place the “targets” on which to act to reduce the growth of compulsive buying among the young and, not less important, to know which “topics” in the life stories accompany the appearance, development, and chronification of this problem. Most likely, the greater assurance obtained from the knowledge yielded by all three levels will prove helpful for both the person suffering from buying-related problems and the person trying to identify different flanks from which to address the complex variety of cases involving this problem from a preventive or intervention approach. It is our hope that this may be so.

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COMMENTS

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