Indicators of social mood used in our research include evaluations of and forecasts for Poland’s economy and politics, respondents’ workplaces and their own household finances. Quarterly findings are presented in the context of the preceding months, so that patterns of change in mood can be discerned with greater clarity.

In the first quarter of this year, as in the final months of last year, evaluations of the private sphere were decidedly better than the public. Politics were still at the bottom, although the criticism expressed in the first three months of this year was somewhat less harsh than last October and December. The state of Poland’s economy was seen as minimally better than in the previous quarter, with a mean assessment that has exceeded zero for several months. When it came to respondents’ workplaces and household finances, however, positive evaluations decidedly outnumbered negative ones. Despite insignificant fluctuations, both these measurements remained relatively stable.

Forecasts concerning the political situation in the country continued to be more frequently pessimistic than optimistic, with somewhat greater pessimism in the last two months. Forecasts for the economy remained more favourable, though with certain fluctuations. Even better, and somewhat more stable, were the forecasts for respondents’ workplaces and for the condition of their household finances.