What's behind the psychology of panic-buying which takes place when a major weather event like Storm Éowyn occurs?
Ireland has seen many major weather events in the last few years and there are certain habits which have become ingrained, from paying attention to Met Éireann warnings to stocking up on the groceries. Despite warnings that there's no need to go mad for the white sliced pan, the impending arrival of Storm Éowyn means many Irish kitchens have more white sliced pans than they might need.
So why do people go mad for the bread? According to clinical psychologist, Prof Ian Robertson, people can overestimate the risk associated with a particular event when they are "out of their routine" and taking in a pretty "saturated" news cycle. "There’s something in psychology, it’s a cognitive bias called the ‘availability heuristic’, which means that if something comes easily to mind, then you overestimate the likelihood of that happening.
"You’re bombarded with stories to do with shortages, for instance, there may be only one shortage in one store in the country but because that comes easily to mind, you think it’s going to be much more common. You think it’s happening everywhere."
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From RTÉ Radio One, Prof Ian Robertson on how we're hugely influenced by what other people around us are doing
People compensate for the threat by stocking up on groceries and other items, particularly when we saw others around us doing the same, but why the auld' sliced pan in particular during a storm? "Sliced white bread is a classic comfort food. So, here we are, at home, besieged at home, you know, feeling this sense of 'Oh my goodness, the elements are going to kill us' and so there’s a real tendency for us to want, you know, white toasted bread and marmalade for our breakfast. The white pan is a kind of symbol of safety and comfort."
"In wartime, rates of anxiety, depression and mental illness go down significantly. Why? Because there’s a common threat. A common threat binds people together and when people feel bound together, they feel less anxious. They feel happier. And if they do things for each other, we know that altruism, doing good things for each other, is a great anti-depressant."
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
