Social cohesion and attitudes towards foreigners. The case of a Polish county town
Social cohesion and attitudes towards foreigners. The case of a Polish county town

Summary/Abstract: The foundations of social cohesion are shared values and norms within a given community and social bonds between its members based on trust and solidarity, which in turn facilitate members’ cooperation for the common good. The article verifies the hypothesis that the individual dimension of social cohesion, that is attachment to place and community, is of practical value in reducing concerns towards foreign group members. It also answers the question of what role social cohesion may play in the process of settling foreigners within a given locality. The most obvious example of such foreigners are immigrants; hence the article fills the research gap on the local effects of the migration crisis in Poland. This article presents the results of a survey (N=505) conducted in a medium sized Polish city in January 2023. The results obtained indicate a moderately positive attitude towards foreigners and the existence of a positive correlation between this attitude and two variables included in the social cohesion index: a sense of safety and attachment to the place of residence.

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