The psychology behind toilet paper panic-buy

5 possible reasons explained

We have recently talked about an Australian supermarket that was assaulted by panic-buyers who ran out all the stocks of toilet paper due to Coronavirus fear to the point that stores had to hire security guards to patrol customers.

Surprisingly, this is not the only case because the US and Canada also have started limiting the number of toilet paper packs customers can buy in one trip. Even some UK stores are sold out. Why? Toilet paper doesn’t offer protection against the virus and it’s not a staple good.

These are possible psychological explanations:

1. Conflicting messages resort to extremes

When people hear conflicting messages about the risk it poses and how seriously they should prepare for it, they tend to resort to the extreme. Taylor, a professor, and clinical psychologist at the University of British Columbia, said that when people are told something dangerous is coming, but all you need to do is wash your hands, the action doesn’t seem proportionate to the threat because special danger needs special precautions.

2. Lack of a clear direction from officials

Several countries have already imposed mass quarantines. People buying up toilet paper and other household supplies may be preparing for the same thing in their city, said Baruch Fischhoff, a psychologist and professor in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy and the Institute for Politics and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon University. Unless people have seen official promises that everyone will be taken care of, they are left to guess at the probability of needing the extra toilet paper, sooner rather than later, he said. The fact that there are no official promises might increase those probabilities, he added.

3. Panic buying leads to panic buying

People see images of panic buyers, assume there’s a reason to panic and buy up supplies, too, Taylor said. “People, being social creatures, we look to each other for cues for what is safe and what is dangerous,” he said. “And when you see someone in the store, panic buying, that can cause a fear contagion effect.” All those photos of empty shelves may lead people to believe that they must rush out and grab toilet paper while they still can.

4. It’s natural to want to overprepare

There may be some practicality in stocking up, says Frank Farley, a professor at Temple University and former president of the American Psychological Association. With the CDC and other international health agencies now advising that certain populations should stay home and avoid contact with other people or crowds, it’s natural to want to prepare, he said. “Coronavirus is engendering a sort of survivalist psychology, where we must live as much as possible at home and thus must ‘stock up’ on essentials, and that certainly includes toilet paper,” he said. “After all, if we run out of toilet paper, what do we replace it with?”. 👅

You’ll be spending money on toilet paper at one point or another, the only extra costs are the hassle of doing it sooner rather than later, contending with long lines and having difficulty finding it, Fischhoff said. Since they’ll eventually use the toilet paper, the analysis is different than if they’d bought something they likely wouldn’t use, like a perishable item, he said. The US Department of Homeland Security advises Americans to keep at least two weeks’ worth of food, toiletries, and medical supplies on hand anyway, but Taylor said most people don’t. So when health officials publicly advise to stock up, they may take it to the extreme.

5. Sense of control

The people who are stocking up on supplies are thinking about themselves and their family and what they need to do to prepare, Taylor said. “It’s all due to this wave of anticipatory anxiety,” Taylor said. “People become anxious ahead of the actual infection. They haven’t thought about the bigger picture, like what are the consequences of stockpiling toilet paper.” But people only act that way out of fear. Fischhoff said that preparing, even by purchasing toilet paper, returns a sense of control to what seems like a helpless situation.

So these are all consequences of our survival instinct along with panic, nevertheless, we could learn to do without toilet paper in such cases especially if we should stay at home.

Source CNN