Relax, Girls—Men Are Shopaholics, Too

Men are giving women a run for their credit cards when it comes to shopping addiction, Details reports. One study found that men in their 20s and 30s "shop more like women" by visiting a variety of stores, and anecdotal evidence portrays today's male as increasingly prone to the feel-good purchase. But unlike female shopaholics, men pick up that golf bag at lunch to reward themselves, not charge away the blues.

One British neuroscientist who studied male shoppers' brain waves called the habit “a kind of consumer masturbation": Test subjects grew more excited when eyeing a pair of sneakers than sexy lingerie. But male shopping addicts can suffer for it on the job, one author warns. "Whenever you devote so much brain space to shopping, there’s less to use for something else.” (More shopping stories.)