Here's Why We Hoarded Toilet Paper

I admit it.  I was a toilet paper hoarder.

 (Read this if you want to know just how much:
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/opinion/article/Opinion-Coronavirus-draws-out-my-inner-hoarder-15156319.php)

 In any event, a new study says that personality traits can be linked to personality traits.

 According to newswise.com, "People who feel more threatened by COVID-19 and rank highly on scales of emotionality and conscientiousness were most likely to stockpile toilet paper in March 2020, says a new study published by Lisa Garbe (University of Saint Gallen, Switzerland), Richard Rau (Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat Munster, Germany), and Theo Toppe (the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany)."
Following the fast spread of COVID-19 across Europe and North America in March 2020, many people began stockpiling commodities including toilet paper. Some companies reported an increase of up to 700% in toiled paper sales, despite calls from the government to refrain from “panic buying.” 
And it wasn't just in this country.  Researchers surveyed over 1,000 adults from 35 countries and many if not all were, well, hoarding toilet paper.
People did it for the simplest of reasons, newswise reports.  It was the perceived threat posed by the pandemic; people who felt more threatened tended to stockpile more toilet paper. 
But emotionality comes into it, too. People who generally tend to worry a lot and feel anxious are more likely to feel threatened and stockpile toilet paper, the website explains.
"The personality domain of conscientiousness—which includes traits of organization, diligence, perfectionism and prudence—was also a predictor of stockpiling," claims newswise. Other observations were that older people stockpiled more toilet paper than younger people and that Americans stockpiled more than Europeans. 
But here's the real point:  no one really knows for sure!  The researchers pointed out that the variables studied "explained only 12% of the variability in toilet paper stockpiling, which suggests that some psychological explanations and situational factors likely remain unaccounted for."
So go out and grab that toilet paper and paper towels.  Oh, wait, it's back in stock.  How about those Lysol wipes, though?  Can't find them anywhere.

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