This may come as little surprise to most people: In times of crisis, women are more likely to take a shopping spree than in normal times.

    A new survey finds almost half of UK women are frightened or scared by the recession, and 45 percent felt their financial situation had taken a hit. A full 75 percent said they would be making cutbacks.

    Yet 79 percent of them said they would splurge to cheer themselves up.

    Of the 700 women surveyed, 40 percent said depression was an excuse to overspend; 60 percent said "feeling a bit low" was a good enough reason.

    "This type of spending, or compensatory consumption, serves as a way of regulating intense emotions," said Karen Pine, a University of Hertfordshire professor and author of "Sheconomics" .

    The itch to shop has long been known to overwhelm some people, either because of simple materialism or to compensate for emotional problems. Many researchers liken it to addiction, and some think it has been a growing problem in the modern consumerism society.

    The problem is likely not confined to women. A 2006 study in the United States found 6 percent of women have it so bad they are labeled compulsive buyers, but so are 5.5 percent of men.

    Pine says this compensatory behavior could become more pronounced in a recession. People use drugs and alcohol similarly to regulate emotions, Pine explains, but she thinks shopping is increasingly employed by women for this purpose. And, paradoxically, worrying about money could lead women to spend more, she said.

    "If shopping is an emotional habit for women they may feel the need to keep spending despite the economic downturn," said Professor Pine. "Or, perhaps worse still, if they can't spend we might see an increase in mental health problems such as anxiety and depression."

    Problem is, the splurges don't always have the intended effect.

    About 25 percent of the women surveyed said shopping sprees in the week prior to being surveyed left them with feelings of regret, guilt or shame.

    Sounds a lot like other addictions, Pine said.

    也许大部分人都觉得不足为奇：女性在经济危机时期反而比平时更爱购物了。

    一项最新调查显示，近半数英国女性对经济危机感到害怕或惊恐，45%的受访女性认为经济状况严重恶化。另外足有75%的受访者称将缩减开支。

    而79%的受访女性表示，她们将疯狂购物以便换个好心情。

    在参与调查的700位女性中，40%的人称压抑是疯狂购物的借口，60%的人称“感到有些低落”是一个充分理由。

    赫特福德大学教授、《女性经济议题》一书的作者凯伦•派恩说：“这种消费类型，或称为补偿性消费，可以调节紧张的情绪。”

    不管是出于纯粹的物欲还是为了调节情绪，人们早已了解到有些人的购物欲望是无法克制的。很多研究人员认为这相当于上瘾，一些人认为在现代消费社会中这一问题愈加明显。

    并非只有女性受此困扰。2006年美国开展的一项调查表明，6%的女性是“购物狂”，她们被称为“强迫购买者”，但有5.5%的男性也是如此。

    派恩表示，在经济衰退时期这种补偿购买行为会更加明显。他解释道，人们同样还会吸毒或者酗酒来调节情绪，但她认为越来越多的女性以购物来调节情绪状态。而矛盾的是，越担心没钱，女性花得就越多。

    派恩教授说：“如果购物是女性的一种情感习惯，那么就算有经济危机，她们还会觉得应该继续消费。或者更糟的是，如果她们不能消费了，那么焦虑和压抑等精神健康问题有可能激增。”

    而问题在于疯狂购物并不一定能达到预期效果。

    大约25%的受访女性称，调查前一周的疯狂购物令她们感到后悔、内疚或者羞愧。

    派恩称，这和很多其它上瘾行为的后果类似。