One hundred and sixty nine female undergraduates completed the Compulsive Buying Scale, the Hoarding Scale (Frost & Gross, 1993), the Padua Inventory (Sanavio, 1988), the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Frost et al., 1990), the Indecisiveness Scale (Frost & Shows, 1993), and the Lucky Beliefs Questionnaire (Frost et al., 1993).

The Compulsive Buying Scale (CBS) contained 13 items derived from previous research and theoretical models of compulsive buying. Subjects were asked to rate how true each item was for them on a scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much). For a list of CBS items, see Figure 1.

The Hoarding Scale is a 24-item version of the 1993 measure. It has been shown to have adequate reliability and validity (Frost and Gross, 1993).

The Padua Inventory is a general measure of OCD symptomatology and contains four subscales: Checking, Mental Activity Control, Motor Behavior Control and Contamination (Sanavio, 1988). It is a reliable scale and has been shown to have adequate validity.

The Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS; Frost et al. (1990) contains 35 items and six subscales, including Parental Criticism, Doubting of Actions, Concern over Mistakes, Parental Expectations Organization and Personal Standards. It has been found to have adequate reliability and validity.

The Decision Making Questionnaire (DMQ) contains 15 items and was used to measure indecisiveness. It has been shown to have adequate reliability and validity (Frost and Shows, 1993).

The Lucky Beliefs Questionnaire (LBQ) contains 30 items designed to assess superstitiousness and has been found to have adequate reliability (Frost et al., 1993)

The CBS had adequate reliability (alpha = .87). Scores ranged from 14 to 71 with a mean of 39.7 and a standard deviation of 13.1.

As hypothesized, the Compulsive Buying Scale was strongly correlated with scores on the Hoarding Scale. See Table 1. Compulsive buying was also correlated with the Padun total and with all four subscales (Mental Activity Control, Contamination, Checking and Motor Behavior Control). It is interesting to note that the correlation between control over mental activity and compulsive buying was significantly larger than the other correlations involving the Padua.

As shown in Table 2, compulsive buying was correlated with five of six subscales Parental Criticism,

Doubt, Parental Expectations, Personal Standards and Concern over Mistakes) and total score on the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. In addition, significant correlations were found between the Compulsive Buying Scale the Decision Making Questionnaire as well as the Lucky Beliefs Questionnaire.

The present study found compulsive buying to be highly correlated with compulsive hoarding in a non-clinical sample. Furthermore, compulsive buying was correlated with other characteristics associated with compulsive hoarding such as perfectionism and indecisiveness. These findings suggest a strong relationship between the hoarding and compulsive buying and argue for the inclusion of compulsive buying as a more central component in the model of compulsive hoarding. As proposed by Frost and Hartl (1996), it seems likely that hoarding is characterized not only by the inability to discard, but also by the tendency to acquire things in a compulsive way.

Compulsive buying was also found to be correlated with OCD symptomatology and with the OCD-related phenomena of superstitiousness. These correlations provide empirical evidence in support of the proposed relationship between compulsive buying and OCD. Of particular interest is the larger correlation between compulsive buying and the Mental Activity Control subscale of the Padua Inventory. The correlation of compulsive buying with Mental Activity Control was significantly higher than the other subscales. This suggests that a lack of control over mental processes is central to the way in which compulsive buying is experienced.

Given the apparent importance of mental activity in the way that compulsive buying is experienced, it is useful to consider the kinds of mental processes that might be involved. It may be the case that compulsive buying is one manifestation of an underlying pattern of mental activity and that the tendency to buy compulsively is part of a more general tendency towards compulsive acquisition. This possibility suggests several avenues for further research. Additional forms of compulsive acquisition are of interest, as are the mental processes that underlie them.

Faber, R.J. & O'Guinn, T. (1989). Classifying compulsive consumers: Advances in development and diagnostic tool. Advances in Consumer Research, 16, 738-744.

Faber, R. & O'Guinn, T. (1992). A clinical screener for compulsive buying. Journal of Consumer Research, 19, 459-469.

Frost, R. & Hartl, T. (1996). A cognitive behavioral model of compulsive hoarding. Behavior Research and Therapy, 34, 341-350.

McElroy, S., Phillips, K., Keck, P., Jr. (1994). Obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 55, 33-51.

McElroy, S., Keck, P., Pope, H., Smith, J., & Strakowski, S. (1994). Compulsive buying: A report of 20 cases. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 55, 242-248.

Table 1: Compulsive Buying Scale Items

1. How often do you buy things you never use?

2. How often do you buy things you don't have the money for?

3. How often do you pick things up that other people have discarded?

4. How often do you feel compelled to buy something (e.g. a good bargain) even though you don't need the object?

5. How often do you feel anxious or depressed when you don't buy something you really wanted?

6. How often do you buy things to make yourself feel better?

7. How often do you feel like you absolutely have to have something you see while shopping?

8. To what extent do you feel distressed or upset because you have bought things you don't need?

9. To what extent do you spend too much time shopping?

10. Has excessive shopping resulted in financial difficulties for you?

11. Has excessive shopping interfered with your social life or your job?

12. How often do you look through other people's trash (e.g. dumpsters) for things to bring home?

13. How often do you spend a longer time shopping than you intended?

Table 2: Correlations between CBS and the Hoarding Scale, Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and the Decision Making Scale

Table 3. Correlations between Compulsive Buying and the Padua Inventory and Superstitiousness Scale