Hoarding

Hoarding is the act of engaging in excessive acquisition of items that are not needed or for which no space is available.

According to previous studies, anthropomorphism, or the propensity to attribute human characteristics to non-human items, has been associated with hoarding. Additionally, the findings stated that younger individuals had more substantial hoarding and anthropomorphizing cognitions and behaviors, and women demonstrated stronger early anthropomorphizing behaviors compared to men.

The act of hoarding can involve any items.

Many states or cities have anti-hoarding laws or ordinances. These are almost universally centered on the possibility that hoarding could create unsanitary conditions or a public nuisance.

Hoarding can also be defined as collecting and holding otherwise scarce items. Some items commonly hoarded include coins considered to have an intrinsic value, such as those minted in silver, or gold, as well as collectibles, jewelry, precious metals and other luxuries.

Civil unrest or the threat of natural disasters may lead people to stockpile foodstuffs, water, gasoline, and other essentials that they believe will soon be in short supply. Survivalists, also known as preppers, often stockpile large supplies of these items in anticipation of a large-scale disaster event. Since these acts of collection and storage necessarily involve useful items, and assuming that the stockpiler has space to store them, these acts do not meet the technical or legal definitions of hoarding unless the collection of the items occurs during actual shortages or heightened widespread need such as a natural disaster, or if the purpose or intent is to create a publicly available shortage in order to sell the collected items at inflated prices. This practice is illegal to prevent price gouging as affected persons try to buy necessary commodities rather than prohibit the mere act of collecting or holding large quantities of any particular item.