The holiday season is the busiest shopping time of the year. According to the National Retail Federation, more than 172 million shoppers hit the stores on Black Friday weekend this year – up from 147 million in 2007.

Moreover, during this time, economists pay close attention to the shopping trends.

One such economist, Dr. Paul Albanese, Kent State University associate professor of marketing and author of "The Personality Continuum and Consumer Behavior," has taken it a step further.

Albanese examined shopping behavior and classified it into four levels of personality development: normal, neurotic, primitive and psychotic.

"Normal consumers spend less than they earn and save for future purchases they cannot afford in the present, while neurotic shoppers spend an excessive amount of time shopping, often not buying anything," says Albanese.

In addition, he found that compulsive buyers engage in repetitive buying binges and fall within the primitive personality type, while psychotic personalities go overboard in spectacular spending sprees usually resulting in serious financial and legal problems.