29 January,2010 01:01 PM IST | | ANI
Australians are the most likely to commit one of the biblical seven deadly sins, a new study claims.
According to an article in the February edition of Focus, a UK magazine produced by the BBC, people Down Under rank first for envy and third for lust and gluttony.
The Americans followed the Australians as the most 'sin-prone.' in the second spot.
The probability to commit the seven deadly sins-lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride- was measured using points system.
For example, nation's tendency towards being sloths was measured by looking at the number of days they took off work.
The country that topped was awarded 10 points, while the one that came second was granted nine points, and so on for all placings in the top 10.
Canada ranked third followed by Finland and Spain.
And, topping each of the sin categories were South Korea (lust), the US (gluttony), Mexico (greed), Iceland (sloth and pride), South Africa (wrath) and Australia (envy).
However, University of Adelaide Emeritus Professor Chilla Bulbeck, from the School of Social Sciences, questioned the ratings.
"Australians did well with the low ranking in the sloth category, but why not measure the length of the average working week, showing unpaid hours of work?" News.com.au quoted Bulbeck as saying.
She added: "The article also tends to focus on what men do or experience rather than women.
"Domestic violence is the most common assault experienced by women, but it's not factored into the wrath category."
James Cook University social demographer Dr Sue Bandaranaike said: "The US, Canada and Australia are the most obese countries in the world so when you see them finish in the gluttony section in that order, it's no surprise."
