The Science of Sin: The Psychology of the Seven Deadlies (and Why They Are So Good For You)

Pride, lust, gluttony, greed, envy, sloth, and anger.

They’re considered “deadly” because of their capacity to generate other evils. The truth is, we all sin and we do it all the time—in fact, usually several times over before breakfast! But human behavior, argues social psychologist Simon Laham, is more complex than “good” or “evil.” In psychology, these sins aren’t considered morally wrong or even uniformly bad, but are treated rather as complex and interesting psychological states that if...