'Changing rooms are all the rage,' study suggests

There has been road rage, trolley rage and even funeral rage. Now there is a new type of fury apparently sweeping the country - changing room rage.

According to a new study, nearly three quarters of women are afflicted by the condition, which is said to manifest itself in feelings of anger, disappointment and bouts of bad temper.

In the short term, shoppers snap at retail assistants or storm out of stores, abandoning clothes they have yet to try on.

Long-term effects include reacting angrily to family and friends once home; feeling low for a long time afterwards; and suffering a dip in self-confidence, adult behaviour psychologist, Susan Quilliam observed.

"Beautiful clothes will make a woman feel more beautiful and therefore more positive about her appearance, more confident and more optimistic," she added. "But if the shopping experience itself is negative, the whole event can be utterly destructive. Instead of making us feel good about ourselves and our lives, it brings up frustration, irritation and anger."

The study of more than 1,200 women in the UK found women aged 30 to 39 were most likely to experience changing room rage, while women in their fifties were more likely to stay calm.