Women think shopping, men think about sex

Three quarters of young women think about shopping almost as often as young men think about sex, researchers have discovered.

Females between the ages of 19 and 45 think about buying things once every 60 seconds, while men are believed to think of sex every 52 seconds.

Most worryingly for some of those sex-obsessed men, half of the women surveyed said they preferred shopping to spending time with their partner.

Whether it is that new pair of Manolo Blahnik heels or that must-have H&M skirt, thoughts of indulging in "retail therapy" dominate women's waking hours.

Assuming that the average woman sleeps for eight hours a night, the figures mean that women think of shopping 960 times a day – or 6.720 times a week.

The survey, for fashion website cosmopolitan.co.uk, interviewed 778 women between 19 and 45, and 74 per cent admitted to thinking about shopping every minute.

Almost half the respondents said they did not wear everything in their wardrobe and 40 per cent described themselves as bag or shoe "addicts".

The current economic downturn has not dimmed the women's enthusiasm for consumption, with 62 per cent saying they would delay payments by using credit cards.

Around a quarter said they would think nothing of spending £200 or more on an item they particularly wanted.

Psychologist Dr Jane Prince, of the University of Glamorgan, said: "So many women displaying this level of preoccupation would indicate widespread addictive behaviour." [source]