People in general dislike being criticized.

"in general" can easily be placed first without changing the meaning. In general people dislike being criticized. That makes 'in general' a sentential adverb(ial), i.e., an adverb(ial) which modifies the entire sentence. It doesn't modify any single word in the sentence but the whole idea that the sentence expresses.

CJ

Does 'In general' never modify a single noun in any sentence? Thank you so much!

Hans51Does 'In general' never modify a single noun

Yes, in general conditions; in general use; in general outline.

Anonymousin general conditions; in general use; in general outline.

But those are plain old prepositional phrases, not the adverbial "in general". For example, in the first case you would need

In general, conditions were unfavorable.

CJ

Hans51Does 'In general' never modify a single noun in any sentence?

I think there are cases where 'in general' might modify a single noun. It could be something that contrasts a specific instance with a general instance, like the following:

I like my German shepherd, but I don't like dogs in general.

CJ

The phrase "people in general" means generally 99% or majority of people. So when you hear the phrase "people in general", it will usually mean majority of people and since the statement was "people in general hate criticism"in other words, "A majority of people hate criticism". I hope this was helpful.