Binge Eating Worse than Adultry

Most Italians feel more guilty about over-eating than they do about cheating on their partners. A survey, by psychology magazine Riza Psicosomatica, found that excessive eating and spending topped the list of what people considered the most guilt-inducing vices.

Sexual infidelity came bottom of the list of the magazine's 'seven deadly sins', behind neglecting friends and family, failing at work and not looking after one's physique.

The survey of some 1,000 Italians aged 25-55 found that religion played little part in determining what made people feel guilty, despite Italy's Roman Catholic traditions.

Only 7 percent of those questioned said religious rules induced guilt. The most powerful drivers of guilty feelings were the judgment of loved ones or the disapproval of society as a whole. [link]