Shopaholism From The Point of View of a Household Member of An Addicted Person

Abstract

The aim of the author of this article is to present the issue of shopping addiction and its social consequences, with particular emphasis on family relationships and daily existence from the point of view of a person who is codependent and lives in the same house as a shopping addict. The article was created because of a request from a member of the household of a person who buys excessively various products or services. It consists of three parts. The first is to present the issue of shopping addiction in the context of behavioural addictions. The second is a quotation of current, although rudimentary, research on excessive buying, and the third one is a description and analysis of a conversation with a codependent person, a daughter, who talks about a household member in the context of excessive buying. The article ends with a summary that contains conclusions based on the literature and analysis of the collected research material. A case report: The concept of an interview was developed on the basis of a survey of the psychological and sociological literature. The final part contains an analysis of the conversation (free interview) and conclusions from this analysis. The article outlines the research issues by analysing a conversation with the daughter of a person whose household members suspected addictive buying, and verifying the concept of addictive buying based on this case. Casual interview, conducted in December 2023 with a 28-year-old woman, resident of Krakow. Comment: During the analysis of the presented case, it was noted: the respondent's satisfaction with the purchases made, combined with the justification of the purchase with the desire to improve the family's financial situation, because the products were at attractive prices or promotions; however, higher sums of money were spent due to collective, group purchasing of specific products (packing several pieces); while shopping, the person is as if in a trance, i.e., in another world, focused on shopping and what is happening in the store; shopping includes not only the purchase of things or products, but also continuous browsing and matching of service offers, e.g. purchases of various TV, Internet, and mobile phone packages; the surveyed person has had loans or other financial obligations for over 20 years, explaining them by the need to ensure the current functioning of the household (inability to save); uses the services of leasing companies (frequent car replacement - every two years).