WELL, THAT MAKES SENSE: Older, more anxious people likely to stockpile toilet paper during a pandemic.
But as wrong as this:
People who stockpiled toilet paper as the COVID-19 pandemic reached U.S. shores in March likely felt more threatened by the virus and emphasize preparedness in other facets of their lives, according to a study published Friday by the journal PLOS ONE. Using the Brief HEXACO Inventory, which ranks six broad personality traits, people who tend to worry more and feel anxious — characteristics that fall under the category of “emotionality” — were more likely to stockpile supplies like toilet paper, the researchers found.
Similarly, those with personalities high in “conscientiousness” — which includes traits like organization, diligence, perfectionism and prudence — also were more likely to hoard the product, they said.
I did have something rather pithy to say here but I think this comment says it all and perhaps better:
For a while I lived on a small island without a natural harbor for delivery ships to take shelter in. If a hurricane or tropical storm threatened, the first things to disappear from store shelves were food, candles, and toilet paper. I don’t think it was the old and anxious who were buying as much as the experienced and wise.
And the experienced and wise weren’t hoarding, they had it all LONG before this particular disaster appeared. Sure, they may have done some “topping off” but they were set.
(H/T: Instapundit)
