Poles toward Ukrainians: The results of survey studies

Abstract

In February 2022, Russian troops invaded Ukraine, continuing a war that lasted since 2014. This turn of events led to massive migration of Ukrainian refugees to Poland, during which the country received approx. 2 million new inhabitants. The rapid migrational process led to attitudinal changes in the host country's population. This article reviews survey studies conducted at the Center for Research on Prejudice at the University of Warsaw (cross-sectional and longitudinal) assessing the attitudes of Poles toward Ukrainians. According to our data, the attitudes of Poles toward Ukraine improved after the 2022 Russian invasion (compared to 2021), and our longitudinal studies confirmed that this change was relatively long-lasting – the attitudes did not deteriorate substantially. A study looking at attitudes toward war refugees from Ukraine and refugees from other countries found that Poles showed significantly higher acceptance of Ukrainian refugees than those from other countries, which could be largely attributed to greater contact with Ukrainians. Furthermore, Poles expressed relatively high acceptance of state support for healthcare and education of Ukrainian refugees, whereas the acceptance of direct financial support and housing was relatively lower.