If there is one thing as common in the face of a coming winter snow storm as road crews loading their trucks with salt, it is the massive rush of people to grocery stores in a frantic search for, among other items, milk, bread and toilet paper. Store parking lots are jammed, store aisles are filled with people pushing their shopping carts at breakneck speed, the goal to get in and out as fast as possible. If you have ever wondered about the shopping behavior of people before a snow storm, you are not alone, as it is not a recent phenomenon and has been the focus of psychological human behavior studies in recent years.

In a study of people’s behavior before an oncoming storm, be it snow, wind or rain, Santa Clara University behavioral professor, Hersh Shefrin, found that the key human emotion triggering panic buying prior to a storm is fear, which directly leads to excessive pessimism in the minds of people.

The nightly newscasts tend to power up the oncoming storm with descriptions such as, monstrous, deadly, overwhelming, etc., which in turn amps up the fear of the people. People like to have control of their lives and once the mind senses it has no control over the incoming storm, they often begin thinking in terms of extremes. The oncoming storm actually takes on a life of its own before it even arrives.

While people realize they cannot control the storm, they believe they can at least control the essentials of food and clothing to weather the storm, hence the urgency to visit the local stores to stock up on supplies, whether you need them or not. Yale behavioral scientist, Ravi Dhar, explains, “In the face of storm fear, people desire control rather than hysteria, and that the risk of running out of an essential item feels much worse than overspending.” At such times, emotion trumps rationale and often people highly overstock in a perceived effort to exert some sort of control over the coming storm.

Writing for USA Today, award winning journalist, Mary Walrath-Holridge’s research found that individual peer-pressure is also a significant factor in panic-buying. Holdridge notes that, “Subconsciously, people believe that others have stocked up for the storm and they have not, and that, consequently, they’ll look like fools in the eyes of their friends and neighbors, people whose esteem and respect they highly value.” An individual walks into a store, seeking only a flashlight battery and runs into a friend or neighbor pushing a cart loaded to the top with items. What thought enters the individual’s mind?

“Oh my, surely I need more than a battery!”

It appears that winter storm panic-buying is entrenched in American society and the impulse to rush to the neighborhood store and buy as much as the cart will carry is not likely to disappear anytime soon.

In effect, panic-buying is a self-fulfilling prophecy, in that, initially, there may not have been a shortage of bread until someone spread the word that there may be a shortage. The ensuing customer rush to secure more bread that they need now results in empty bread racks. For better or worse, the more we talk about and see others panic-buying, the more likely it is going to continue to occur.

Just remember that the American food and goods supply chain is highly organized and sophisticated and that that empty shelves are quickly restocked. So the next time a snow storm barrels in and rumors of a toilet paper apocalypse are rampant, fear not, the toilet paper supply truck is on the way!

Mike Rendos is a retired public school educator, sports enthusiast and historian whose columns appear in The Express.