Was the Soviet Union more of a Democracy than the United States ?

Quote:

If we go outside of simple formalised decision making, the realities of life in the USSR were in certain aspects more free and egalitarian than in the US (although the reverse is also true) - especially as pertaining to social mobility and general economical security.
This in turn created a society that was more social and friendly, and less exclusive and hostile, especially on the level of individual attitudes.

I have read this before and am curious what kind of studies have been done on this point. Although I agree that the anonymity of large cities in the capitalist world can be profoundly alienating, it also strikes me that people "on an individual level" can be extremely friendly and sociable even in places with severe economic inequality - I think there's a study that shows that Nigerians of all people are the happiest in the world or something like that.