We completely understand that the saying 'men hate shopping' is a generalization and that there are plenty of women who don't enjoy it either. However, there is some evidence that this isn't completely a myth.
A survey done in 2013 in the United Kingdom found that men become bored after only 26 minutes of shopping, while it takes two hours for women. According to author and senior psychology lecturer Steve Taylor, "The survey found that 80 percent of men didn't like shopping with their partners." Furthermore, 45 percent of respondents said they avoided doing so "at all costs." Taylor notes that "almost half of all spousal shopping trips ended in arguments, with men becoming frustrated because they bought what they needed straight away, while their partners were still looking and taking too long to make decisions."
Men tend to shop with a goal in mind while women treat it like a journey. Studies have shown that there are actual physical differences in the brain between men and women. "The left hemisphere in the brain is in charge of performing logic computations and processing facts. The right hemisphere is dominant in processing visual imagery and interpreting context," explains Tanya Lewis from Scientific American. Women have a thicker bridge between the two hemispheres than men, allowing them to use both of them more efficiently, while men predominantly use the left side of their brain more.
In the context of shopping, this different brain structure leads to men being more task-oriented, while women are more on a journey of discovery.
The psychology behind different tendencies in shopping can also be explained by the responsibilities of our ancestors, the hunters - men, and plant, vegetable, fruit, and nut gatherers - women. These responsibilities can be attributed to modern-day shopping in a way that when women shop, they are more in a 'gathering' mode - browsing from plant to plant (or shop to shop). They spend a lot of time checking if the food is good and fresh and discard quite a bit of it. At the end of the day, they are back home with lots of nourishing food (or shopping bags).
Men, on the other hand, go hunting with one goal in mind - kill the animal and go home (get the item from the shop and be done with it).
Let's be grateful for the efforts of our male companions while shopping and maybe (if they don't share the same passion for shopping) let them stay at home instead. After all, a long shopping spree is not in their nature and might just leave them feeling miserable. Continue scrolling and see our favorite posts from the Instagram account 'Miserable Men'. Feel free to read Bored Panda's previous post about the witty account right here.
