MEN and women differ in just about every other way - in driving, conversing, laughing, eating, watching TV, handling money or drink. Why shouldn’t they be different in shopping too?

The conventional wisdom on male shoppers is they don’t like to do it, which is why they don’t do much of it. And, even when they buy, they rarely shop. Women always shop when they buy, and are estimated to buy 80 per cent of everything that is sold.

Most exchanges between men and women shopping together are more or less bad-tempered. No wonder, a husband often stands outside and watches girls. Big stores and shopping plazas are planning crèches-----where men can be ‘parked’, have drinks, snacks and comfortable seats in front of a big screen TV tuned to sports, while their women shop.

A recent field survey in UK indicates that shopping in crowded stores raises stress levels of men to the point it’s hazardous to their health. "The peak levels were equivalent to emergency situations experienced by fighter pilots or policemen going into dangerous situations," says British psychologist David Lewis who made a study of men’ s stress levels at Christmas shopping.

Lewis sent three dozen men and women of different ages to stores with identical X-mass lists. Each shopper was accompanied by researcher who recorded periodic blood pressure and heart rate. Even before they stepped out of the front door, more than 70 per cent of men started to show these symptoms. "For men even the thought of going shopping was enough to send stress levels soaring," concludes Lewis.

The stress levels for women who had brought their husbands along were much higher than those who went alone or with other female companions. Even those who brought their kids along recorded lower levels of stress than those accompanied by their husbands.

Women do have a greater affinity to what we think of as shopping-walking at a relaxed pace through stores, examining merchandise, comparing products and prices, interacting with sales staff, asking questions, trying things on, and ultimately making purchase. Even when shopping for the mundane, everyday necessities, even when the shopping experience brings no particular pleasure, women tend to do it in a dependable, agreeable manner. Women take pride in their ability to shop prudently and well.

When a woman goes out shopping she will buy something, usually for somebody else or for the "house". What makes women such heroic shoppers? The nature-over-nurture advocates make out that the prehistoric role of women as home-bound gatherers of roots, nuts and berries, rather than roaming hunters of game proves a biological inclination towards skillful shopping.

And when women weren’t working outside, shopping gives them a good excuse to get away from the monotony and cares of house-keeping. With women increasingly joining the workforce, shopping is no longer the great escape. Indeed it’s now something that must be crammed into tight spaces between job and commuting and home life.

Studies show that when two women shop together, they often spend more time and money than a woman alone. They certainly out-shop and outspend saddled with male companions, or even kids.

For many women, there are psychological and emotional aspects of shopping that are just absent in men. Women tend to tally up coolly the pros and cons of every purchase. They can trudge from shop to shop looking for a bargain, placing little value on their time and energy. In fact, they take pride in their ability to make the best possible purchase.

Possibly the ideal place to study female shopping behaviour is in front of the greeting cards rack. Women mostly devote quite a bit of time studying card after card to find out the one that speaks their hearts.

Incidentally, any wife watching the family budget knows better than to send her husband to a shopping centre with kids. Men are particularly suggestible to the entreaties of children.

In buying clothes, women labour under particular handicap vis-à-vis men. Men’s clothing is designed to last a long time; women’s clothing is almost obsolete from the time these are bought. And whereas a few men are victims of fashion, all women are victims of it.

As shopping goes, men by comparison seem like loose cannons. They move appreciably faster than women through a store. Often it’s hard to get them to look at anything they hadn’t intended to buy. They usually don’t ask where things are from, or any other questions, for that matter-----they shop the way they drive.

You see a man impatiently move through a store to the section he wants, picks up something, and then almost abruptly, he’s ready to buy. Men often forget their collar or waist size. Try to imagine a woman who doesn’t know her brassier size. Impossible. And women generally don’t buy lingerie without trying it on. But no man goes into a fitting room to try on underwear.