Holiday shoppers fall into four types

KENT, Ohio, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A researcher suggests that U.S. shoppers can be classified into four levels of personality development: normal, neurotic, primitive and psychotic.

Paul Albanese of Kent State University and author of "The Personality Continuum and Consumer Behavior" said the way a person shops can shed light on the shopper's personality.

"Normal consumers spend less than they earn and save for future purchases they cannot afford in the present, while neurotic shoppers spend an excessive amount of time shopping, often not buying anything," Albanese said in a statement.

Albanese found that compulsive buyers engage in repetitive buying binges and fall within the primitive personality type, while psychotic personalities go overboard in spectacular spending sprees usually resulting in serious financial and legal problems.