On February 10, 2023 , the Liga.net portal published a translation of an article by the Polish edition of Rzeczpospolita titled “Irritated by the Russian language and the ‘Russian world’: Polish attitudes towards Ukrainians are deteriorating – a survey”. Due to the fact that this material has begun to spread in Ukrainian social networks, InfolIght.UA publishes a refutation of the common theses.
The published translation generally coincides with the the originaland is a slightly shortened version of it.
The text, in particular, states that “a survey by the University of Warsaw and the University of Economics and Humanities in Warsaw showed that the attitude of Poles toward Ukrainians who left for this country after the outbreak of a full-scale war has deteriorated.”
First of all, we are annoyed by the foreign language around us, mostly Russian, spoken by refugees. After all, it is an “enemy language” and we lose the idea of who they really are
The negative content of the text is reinforced by a quote from Myroslav Skurka, president of the Union of Ukrainians in Poland (according to the translation of Liga.net.
He added that some Ukrainians have brought to Poland the remnants of the “Russian world” – a passion for snobbery, expensive cars, non-compliance with prohibitions such as speed limits, parking in the wrong places.
“We do not accept it,” Skurka said.
Direct quote from the Liga.net text and translation of the original.
Rzeczpospolita in its article refers to the study “Spoleczna perception of uchodzców from Ukraine, migrants or działań podejmowanych przez polskie paniwswo”, while a brief summary of the content does not give a complete picture of the real results.
On January 23, 2023, another public opinion poll on the social perception of refugees from Ukraine and migrants from “Belarus”and the actions of the Polish state in this regard.
Please note that the study concerns not only refugees from Ukraine!
However, we have studied the full text of the presentationand the following follows:
- In January 2023. four-fifths of respondents aged 16-65 (80%) expressed a positive perception of the Social Perception of Migrants Index (SPMI) for refugees from Ukraine. Negative perceptions characterize 8% of respondents. Since April 2022, the SPMI value in some dimensions has not changed significantly (positive, negative, neutral) in relation to refugees from Ukraine.
- The study also revealed a new phenomenon/effect called Positive Attitude Dissonance (PAD). This phenomenon refers to the social perception of refugees from Ukraine. Its essence lies in the dissonance (contradiction) of perceptions towards this community. On the one hand, we are dealing with a very positive attitude of Poles towards refugees from Ukraine, as evidenced by a number of indicators described in the report. These indicators in the analyzed period, i.e. from April 2022 to January 2023, did not change significantly in the direction of negative perception.
- On the other hand, when asked the question for the first time in January 2023: “Has your attitude towards refugees from Ukraine changed over the past 6 months, i.e. since June 2022?” a quarter of Poles surveyed (25%) answered “Yes”, including 68% who said that the direction of change was negative, i.e. their attitude has worsened. This phenomenon requires further research.
- Almost a year after the outbreak of hostilities, the vast majority of respondents (90%) believe that Poland should help Ukraine during the war with Russia. This position has not changed since April 2022, when this aspect was first tested.
- The percentage of respondents who do not see any threats to Poland has slightly increased (from 66% to 72%), and compared to April 2022, the percentage of respondents who do not see any threats to their families from refugees from Ukraine has increased (from 82% to 87%).
We have cited the main indicators from the published presentation, but in general they have the same meaning – the vast majority of Poles support Ukrainians and are ready to help them in the future. More than 85% are ready for Ukrainians to continue living in Poland, which is a very eloquent figure.
Where did this Positive Attitude Dissonance (PAD) come from? Let’s do the math.
According to the survey, 25% of Poles have changed their attitude toward Ukrainians, and among them, 68% have worsened their attitude. That is, if we count mathematically, we are talking about 16% of Poles. At the same time, this question was asked for the first time and was not deciphered. And these figures do not contradict all the others, where more than 80% support Ukrainians. So why was it necessary to put in the headline“attitudes toward Ukrainians are deteriorating in Poland“? If this is not the case.
At the same time, both Polish journalists and their colleagues from Liga.net reinforce the negative context by quoting Mr. Skirka, who has nothing to do with the study. And there is nothing similar to his words in the study.
InfolIght.UA asks Ukrainian journalists to be more careful about the news they publish. And while Liga.net has not formally violated anything by making a correct translation of Rzeczpospolita, there should be an additional filter in such sensitive issues in the form of verification of primary sources, which is the basis of fact-checking.
We are ready to provide Liga.net with free consultations on this issue)
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