Polish self-stereotype in contrast to the stereotypical image of other European nations

Agata Kuźnia, Karolina Hansen

University of Warsaw

This work revolves around the topic of national stereotypes and self-stereotype of Poles. The main point of interest was to discover if Polish self-stereotype is more negative than the perception of other nations. Another point of interest in our study was identification with the group, which is known to affect the perception of both ingroup and outgroup. Therefore, the study explored levels of Polish identification with Poles and with Europeans, in order to check how it links with the reported stereotype content of the three nations. In two studies (N₁ = 95, mainly students, N₂ = 308, demographics representative for the Polish population) we explored the auto-stereotype of Poles and stereotypes of Germans and Spanish. The respondents ascribed the characteristics and then rated them on the dimensions of positivity/negativity and typicality for Europe as a superordinate category combining all three nations into one mutual group. The results were then interpreted in light of ingroup projection theory, which suggests there is a tendency to perceive the ingroup characteristics as traits typical for the superordinate category. The results of both studies showed a negative self-stereotype of Poles and positive stereotypes of both German and Spanish nations. At the same time Poles claimed to highly identify with both Poles and Europeans. The differences were found not only in the statistical analyses, but also in the stereotype content. Results suggest that Polish self-stereotype represents a unique case, which might be rooted in the historical and cultural heritage of Poland.