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The systematic study of misanthropy, the lack of trust in humanity, has proliferated over the last 30 years. One prominent line of research details racial and ethnic disparities in levels of misanthropy, but pays little attention to the role of religiosity, while another focuses attention on religiosity and its impact on levels of misanthropy, with only scant attention to the role of race and ethnicity. Little attempt has been made to synthesize these two strands of literature to address an important unanswered question: Does the association between religiosity and misanthropy vary by racial and ethnic group? To answer this question, we pooled data from the General Social Survey (GSS, 2000–2018). Among other things, we find stark racial differences between Blacks and Whites in terms of the effect of religiosity on misanthropy. Blacks and Latinos who attend religious services weekly (social religiosity) have significantly higher levels of misanthropy than others, while Whites who attend weekly services are less likely to be misanthropic. An important takeaway is that service attendance (a type of social capital) is associated with feelings of misanthropy for all groups (albeit in opposite directions for Blacks and Latinos versus Whites), rather than personal acts of prayer (individual religiosity). When it comes to misanthropy, we conclude that religion works differently for minorities compared with Whites. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Reagan Revolution, a significant gender gap emerged, accompanied by an urban–rural schism in party preference by gender, one manifestation of the nation's widening urban–rural divide. Using the General Social Survey (GSS) data from 1972 to 2018, we explore this urban–rural schism in party preference by running several ordinary least squares models and specifications. Controlling for individuals' traits, we find that differences in the preference for governmental action to address social problems lie at the heart of this gender gap and are further explained by location. Urban women are far more likely than urban men to call for the government to solve problems of income inequality; rural women, like rural men, are much more likely to emphasize individual responsibility and self-sufficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil has high levels of socio-economic inequality and an inequitable distribution of access to higher education. How much of this inequality is associated with race or class is an important question in light of the current debate over affirmative action and the suitability of race and social targeted policies. There are those who claim that racial disparities in the educational system are a result of students' social status and not a result of racism, while others believe race is an important factor that superposes the effect of class. This study uses national survey data from Brazil's Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (National Secondary Education Exam [ENEM]) to examine the relationship between race and access to higher education of high school students between 2004 and 2008. The results document a vicious circle which connects the schooling of the young with their race, socio-economic status, and university attendance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the implementation of the Lei das Cotas (Affirmative Action Law) in Brazil, there has been debate as to whether students who were admitted through affirmative action perform at the same level as students admitted through traditional methods. This article examines the results of the Exame Nacional de Desempenho dos Estudantes (ENADE) from 2009 to 2012 to determine whether there is a relationship between students’ performance at the university level and the manner of their admittance. We find that students admitted to public universities under affirmative action perform at similar levels to students who were not, whereas quota students in private universities perform slightly better than students admitted through traditional methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use pooled US General Social Survey (GSS, 1972–2016) data to study the effect of urbanism on misanthropy (distrust and dislike of humankind). Evolution (small group living), homophily or ingroup preference, and classic urban sociological theory suggest that misanthropy should develop in the most dense and heterogeneous places, such as large cities. Our results mostly agree: misanthropy is highest in cities with a population larger than several hundred thousand people, and the effect size of urbanicity is about half of that of income. Yet, the rural advantage is disappearing—from 1990 to 2010, misanthropy has increased fastest in the smallest places (<10k). One possible reason is that smaller places have been left behind, and rural resentment has increased. This is only the second quantitative study on the urbanicity-misanthropy nexus and more research is needed. Results may not be generalized outside of the US. • We study the effect of urbanicity on misanthropy (distrust and dislike of humankind). • Large cities (>250k) vs. small places (<10k) (but not the countryside) are more misanthropic. • Misanthropy in large cities (>250k) declined over 2000-2010, and in small places (<10k) increased steeply over 1990-2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between race, class, and access to higher education by analyzing the characteristics of students admitted to the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil from 2004 to 2008. Employing novel data, the logistic regression results indicate that those accepted at USP are more likely to be white, from affluent families, to have studied in private high schools, to have enrolled in prep courses, and to have a mother who attained higher education. The findings posit that the lack of accessibility for nonwhites and lower income status students to higher education in Brazil, as exemplified by this case study, is an impediment to social mobility. The implications of these findings for future research and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper compares the life satisfaction and working hours of Latin Americans and U.S. Americans using the AmericasBarometer and General Social Survey. While there are many common determinants of happiness, hours worked is not among them. Differences in cultural values, especially the distinction between collectivism (familism) and individualism that has long been a foundation of social development theory, may be why married Latin American males are less happy than married U.S. American males when working longer hours. The distinction is not apparent among females or the unmarried. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from the World Values Survey and AmericasBarometer are used in ordinal logistic models to evaluate life satisfaction in rural and urban areas in Latin America. Our findings indicate that, unlike the United States, in Latin America there is no evidence of rural–urban happiness differences. In Latin America familism is the key driving force, aspatial and transcending location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examined the effects of perceived discrimination related to race, gender, religion, disability and socioeconomic status on the experience of high school students and their satisfaction of school environment.

Data from a national survey of formerly landless peasants residing in federal land-reform settlements in Brazil (Pesquisa Nacional de Educação na Reforma Agrária- PNERA) confirm that the Landless Rural Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra- MST) has been far more successful than other settlement movements in assuring a better quality of life for its members. This superior performance is attributed to an organizational structure that demands and assures membership involvement, and a commitment to participatory education in an environment that fosters and supports MST's goals and objectives. MST's members have higher self-perceived social status than members of non- MST movements, have better residential environments and more material possessions, and experience an education that emphasizes the movement's principles of social justice, radical democracy, and humanist and socialist values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study shows, for the first time, that city unhappiness is common across the world. We use the World Values Survey cumulative dataset 1981–2020 from www.worldvaluessurvey.org. In all developed countries, without exception, we find that city dwellers are not happier than rural residents. • Using the World Values Survey (WVS) cumulative dataset 1981-2020, we test the urban-rural happiness gradient hypothesis. • We find that in developed countries city dwellers are not happier than rural residents. • This finding contradicts a common belief, especially in economics (e.g., Glaeser, 2011), that cities are triumphant and happy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides new evidence to the urban malaise (unhappiness) hypothesis. A new key finding is added: Urban upbringing is associated with lower happiness levels later in life. This outcome is above and beyond the effect associated with living currently in a city. Strikingly, the negative effect of urbanicity in one's youth is about as strong statistically, and practically (effect size), as the effect of urbanicity given one's current place of residence. In addition, our findings show that there may be a happiness benefit to growing up on a farm. The present study is inspired by Lederbogen et al. (2011) who showed that growing up in a city has a negative lasting effect in a person's life. We also find interactive effects: people who grew up in larger areas but live in smaller areas have lower levels of happiness than those who grew up in smaller areas and continue to live there. There is also an interactive effect with age: older people are happier if they grew up on a farm. These results aim to stimulate discussion by challenging the mainstream pro-urban view that people are happier in cities. This study is based on U.S. data, thus our results may not generalize to other countries or historical contexts. • Using the General Social Survey (GSS) dataset from 1972 to 2016, we provide new evidence to the urban malaise hypothesis. • Urban upbringing results in lower happiness levels later in life. • This effect is above and beyond the unhappiness associated with living currently in a city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World Values Survey data is used to test the association between urbanization, operationalized as population size, and subjective well-being, operationalized as life satisfaction, in the case of Egypt. Regression results show that the smallest settlements have the highest positive effect on subjective well-being compared to the large urban centers. These results are persistent even after controlling for an extensive set of socio-demographic variables. Another important finding is that the two main urban and economic centers of the country, the Greater Cairo and Alexandria regions, generate lower subjective well-being when compared to the more rural regions (Lower and Upper Egypt). These results are both unexpected and compelling, especially in the context of a developing country such as Egypt—previous research argues that cities should generate higher subjective well-being when compared to rural and township settlements in such a context. Our empirical findings show otherwise and provide a novel and crucial contribution to the literature on the subjective wellbeing- urbanization nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]