Just adding to this that I think the bulk of their motivation is not to hoard this particular resource. I think that we are looking at a framework of low information, fear and frustration, and lashing out by trying to do something that offers a feeling of control, like stocking up on one particular good that does not perish and seems essential.

The idea that people could stop to realize that they are acting irrationally against their best interest, I think it doesn't apply here, because from what I've seen tracking the situation closely for weeks is that they are not capable/resourced for performing that exercise. Even today we have people openly trying to argue that the pandemic is not really that bad. People that haven't processed (or even received) the right information, they are in no position to act rationally to begin with.

This is a behavior driven by ignorance and fear.