0（https://www.ncf.org.pl/cart）
Skip to Content
Support us!（https://patronite.pl/fundacjanowejwspolnoty/）
Open Menu Close Menu
Support us!（https://patronite.pl/fundacjanowejwspolnoty/）
Open Menu Close Menu
Poland's Divide Is Real, Just Not Where People Think – latest NCF study shows
OUR RESEARCH（https://www.ncf.org.pl/milestones/category/OUR%20RESEARCH）
Jul 7
Written by Wawrzyniec Smoczyński（https://www.ncf.org.pl/milestones?author=5e74e37491abea3e55a33bd9）
Ask people in Poland how divided their country is and most will describe a deep and dangerous rift. Ask the same people where they personally stand on the key social and political issues in the country, and the picture softens: the gaps are moderate, and on most questions Poles have far more common ground than anyone expects. That distance – between the how citizens perceive their society and how divided they actually are – is the central finding of "The State of Polarization 2026."
A landmark study of polarization
The State of Polarization ("Stan polaryzacji") is Poland's first comprehensive, systematic study of social division. It is produced by the New Community Foundation (NCF), a Polish non-profit that runs practical programs to address polarization, together with USWPS, Poland’s largest private university and leading school of psychology in Central Europe. Now in its second annual edition, the study provides a scientific foundation for tools and solutions to polarization – which the NCF tests in Poland and shares with non-profits from other countries.
The 2026 edition surveyed a representative sample of 2,040 adults in May 2026, with the survey run online by the Pollster research institute. The first edition was fielded a year earlier, in May 2025, with data collected directly before Poland’s presidential election. 2026 is a non-election year, hence latest results are less impacted by current political developments.
The findings at a glance
Poles broadly agree on what matters most – regardless of party. The top concerns in 2026 are access to doctors and hospitals, the cost of living and wages, and the threat from Russia.
Ideological polarization is moderate. None of the thirteen most important issues splits the country into strong opposing camps. Abortion divides Poles most; judicial independence least. There is real room for agreement.
Affective polarization is strong. Poles attribute negative traits to those who disagree with them about four times more often than to those who agree. Most feel some dislike toward the other side; 22% feel strong dislike.
Perceived polarization is strong. 69% see large differences of opinion, though the measured differences are moderate. They want – and actually have – a society with a strong center, yet many can't see it, most likely because political and media discourse keeps amplifying conflict.
The divide leaves a private mark. Over half of Poles say it stresses them; around 15% report a damaged relationship. Polarization shows up less as open conflict than as silence: more than half avoid talking politics at all.
Download the 2026 State of Polarization (in Polish)（https://www.fnw.org.pl/stan-polaryzacji#sp2026）
To keep the study grounded in what citizens themselves care about – rather than what politicians, pundits or the media emphasize – our researchers first asked a separate sample which issues feel most important right now, then measured polarization only on those. The 2026 list runs from healthcare access and the cost of living to the threat from Russia, abortion, free speech, and the everyday coexistence of Poles and Ukrainians in the contry.
Three kinds of polarization
The yearly study tracks three different types of polarization:
Ideological polarization – how far apart people's actual opinions are on the issues.
Affective polarization – how much dislike people feel toward those who hold different views.
Perceived polarization – how divided people believe their society to be, regardless of the reality.
Poland in 2026 scores moderate on the first, strong on the second and third. Keeping these apart is what makes the results legible – and it is where most public commentary goes wrong, collapsing three separate phenomena into a single alarming word.