oxygen vs nitrogen electronegativity

[Jared_Yuge]

Why is oxygen less electronegative than nitrogen?

[katrinawong3d]

Actually, Oxygen is more electronegative than Nitrogen as it is the second most electronegative element.

[haileyramsey-1c]

I think of you may be thinking of why oxygen's ionization energy is less than nitrogen. This is because nitrogen has a half filled p orbital which is more stable and ideal than oxygen's 4 electrons in the p orbital.

[Sanjana K - 2F]

Oxygen's ionization energy is lower than that of nitrogen because nitrogen has 3 electrons in the p-shell so it's half-full but oxygen has 4 electrons so there will be one set of paired electrons and 2 unbonded electrons, making it less stable. To be more stable, we're more likely to pull out the extra electron from oxygen than ruin the stability that nitrogen already has, so oxygen has a lower ionization energy.