The Most and Least Empathetic Countries (Full List)

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A new global survey has found the most and least empathetic countries, with Ecuador taking the top spot and Lithuania sinking to the bottom. The United States, while not at the very top of the list, did make it to the top 10, coming in seventh out of 63 countries.

To come up with the rankings, the researchers gave online surveys to 104,365 adults, who answered questions about their empathy, or their ability to react to and connect with others both emotionally and intellectually. The participants also answered other questions about other traits that could be linked to empathy levels, such as agreeableness, conscientiousness, self-esteem and prosocial behavior, among others. The scores are based on a 5-point scale: Participants answered each question with a number along the scale of 1 ("doesn't describe me well") to 5 ("describes me very well").

For instance, a couple of the survey entries were: "I often have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me," and "I sometimes try to understand my friends better by imagining how things look from their perspective." [Read the full story on the empathy survey.]

Here's a look at the overall rankings:

The most to the least empathetic countries, according to surveys results from each country. (Image credit: Purch Creative Ops)
Jeanna Bryner
Managing editor, Scientific American

Jeanna Bryner is managing editor of Scientific American. Previously she was editor in chief of Live Science and, prior to that, an editor at Scholastic's Science World magazine. Bryner has an English degree from Salisbury University, a master's degree in biogeochemistry and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland and a graduate science journalism degree from New York University. She has worked as a biologist in Florida, where she monitored wetlands and did field surveys for endangered species, including the gorgeous Florida Scrub Jay. She also received an ocean sciences journalism fellowship from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She is a firm believer that science is for everyone and that just about everything can be viewed through the lens of science.