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. In order to express the full dynamic of changes in social mood, this quarterly summary is presented in the form of mean assessments on a five-point scale from –2 to +2.

The end of the third quarter has brought a slight improvement in evaluations of the political situation. Likewise, forecasts in this area have turned out to be somewhat better over the last months than in the first half of the year. However, both mean assessments and forecasts of the political situation remain unchangingly on the negative side, which indicates a dominance of dissatisfaction over satisfaction and, to a minimal extent, of pessimism over optimism.

For many months both evaluations and forecasts of the economic situation have been on the plus side. Additionally, August and September saw record assessments in this area, while forecasts have remained at much the same level since June.

Evaluations of the condition of respondents’ household finances are somewhat higher than at the end of the second quarter and have remained quite stable throughout the third, while forecasts in this area have, for many months, maintained the same level: close to zero. This indicates a belief in the continuation of the status quo rather than in any improvement; however, in September there was a slight rise in optimism.

At the beginning of the third quarter both assessments and forecasts for the situation in respondents’ workplaces showed an improvement, but in the following months they returned to their pre-July levels. This indicates that most working people unchangingly assess the condition of the businesses that employ them positively and, on the whole, do not anticipate any meaningful change during the coming year. Should there, however, actually be one, it would most likely be positive.