ANN ARBOR, Mich., Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The differences in holiday shopping styles between men and women may be traced to hunter/gatherers of the past, U.S. researchers suggest.
Daniel Kruger of the University of Michigan School of Public Health says gathering edible plants and fungi -- mushrooms -- was traditionally done by women by selecting one item at a time and returning to the same patches that had yielded previous successful harvests, often bringing children along.
Foraging is a daily activity, often social and time consuming, as the women must become adept at choosing just the right color, texture and smell to ensure food safety and quality. They also timed harvests to when a certain patch would regenerate and yield a good harvest again.
Conversely, as hunters, men focused on one thing, and since hunting could be dangerous children were most often kept home, Kruger said.
Today, the same characteristics are demonstrated by men and women at the mall.
Understanding the shopping behavior of a partner can help relieve stress at the stores, Kruger says.
