British Views On Sin

British people consider cruelty to be the country's 'deadliest sin' according to a new survey for the BBC by MORI. The research, for The Heaven and Earth Show, was to find if the seven deadly sins are still relevant to today's society, or if there are 'modern sins' which have taken their place.

When asked which is 'Britain's deadliest sin', most people ignored the traditional seven deadly sins, with cruelty first (39%), followed by adultery (11%), bigotry (eight per cent) and dishonesty (seven per cent). Of the original seven deadly sins, only greed (six per cent) made it on to the list.

Younger and richer people are more likely to admit to sin than older and poorer people. The percentages of those asked if they'd ever committed one of the seven deadly sins were higher amongst 16–34 year olds and amongst the more affluent social groups. Whilst the virtuous over 55s are less likely to commit sins or at least less likely to admit to it! There are also significant regional variations, with southerners confessing to significantly higher levels of sinfulness than those in the Midlands or the positively virtuous North.

Whilst anger tops the poll in the most committed sins, lust is by far the sin which respondents most enjoy. More men cite lust as their favourite sin (41%) than women (26%), whereas more women than men admit to enjoying gluttony (20% of women and 15% of men).

Four in five (79%) British adults admit to being angry at some point in their lives, but that figure rises amongst 16–34 year olds (85%) and amongst the upper middle class/middle class social groups (87%).

One in 10 (11%) single people and 11% of those who are no longer in relationships chose adultery as the 'eighth deadly sin'. Yet only five per cent of people in stable relationships agreed that adultery should be added to the list.

Technical Details

The Heaven & Earth Show's poll was conducted by MORI between 10–13 December, 2004. A total of 1,000 adults were questioned by telephone on their attitudes towards sin and the relevance of the seven deadly sins to today's society.

Topline Results

• MORI interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,001 British adults, aged 16+ across Great Britain from 10–13 December 2004.
• Interviews were conducted over the telephone using CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) equipment.
• Data were weighted to match the known population profile.
• All figures quoted are percentages.
• Where figures do not sum to 100 percent, this may be due to computer rounding or multiple response answers.
• * represents a figure of greater than zero, but less than 0.5%

Q1 Which, if any, of the following Seven Deadly Sins have you personally committed? Base: All (1,001)

Q2 Which, if any, of the Seven Deadly Sins would you most enjoy committing? Base: All (1,001)

Q3 Given the choice, if you were to add another 'sin' to the existing Seven Deadly Sins, which of the following would you choose? Base: All (1,001)

Q3 Thinking about the Seven Deadly Sins and the possible additional sins read out in the previous questions, which sin do you think is the worst? Base: All (1,001)