Individual Attitudes Toward Others, Misanthropy Analysis in a Cross-Country Perspective

While misanthropy has been analyzed taking into account one country and just comparing results, we employ the 2004 International Social Survey Program data set and assess its determinants from a cross-country analysis by considering personal characteristics and country effects. Findings indicate that misanthropy is explained by sociodemographic and economic characteristics (being a woman, education, and marriage reduce misanthropy while being young or poor, and self-employment have the opposite effect). Country effects result significant consequently, some environmental factors play a relevant role. Finally, we add new elements to the discussion by showing a strong relationship among our misanthropy ranking and two corruption perception rankings.