Russians consider their best qualities as being kindness, honesty, and generosity, their weak points as alcoholism and laziness, according to a national poll.
The poll on national and Western character traits was carried out from August 6 to 7 in various different regions by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center among 1,600 Russians.
Many also attributed qualities such as mutual supportiveness, patience, hospitality, and tenacity to the country's people.
When asked how they viewed typical Westerners, the most popular positive responses were "hard-working", "business-like", "responsible", "law-abiding", "goal oriented" (around 10% citing each), whereas a roughly equal number viewed them as "money-loving", "arrogant", "high-mannered", "cunning".
Almost half declined to generalize either positively or negatively.
