A 2011 study tracked the top temptations Americans face. The people surveyed said they struggled with the following temptations either "often" or "sometimes":

• Worrying or being anxious—60 percent
• Procrastinating or putting things off—60 percent
• Eating too much—55 percent
• Spending too much time on media—44 percent
• Being lazy—41 percent
• Spending more money than they could afford—35 percent
• Gossiping about others—26 percent
• Being jealous or envious of others—24 percent
• Viewing pornography or sexually explicit material—18 percent
• Abusing alcohol or drugs—11 percent

When asked if they tried to do anything specific to avoid giving in to a temptation, 41 percent said yes and 59 percent said no.

When people were asked why they give in to temptations, the top four reasons were:

• I am not really sure—50 percent
• To escape or get away from "real life"—20 percent
• To feel less pain or loneliness—8 percent
• To satisfy other people's expectations of me—7 percent