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Are Happy Individuals Less Xenophobic Than Unhappy Individuals? Happiness & Income Versus Xenophobia, Noah A. Albanese

Student Publications

The social science literature on xenophobia is immense. Researchers have found that individual levels of xenophobia have a strong correlation with economic indicators, education, and political affiliation. However, do they have any correlation with unconventional indicators like happiness? This paper uses data from the World Value Survey to study the correlation between individual happiness and xenophobia. I find that there is a significant correlation between individual levels of happiness and xenophobia, even when controlling for income around the world.