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 2016, as in previous years, evaluations of the private sphere were decidedly better than the public. When it came to respondents’ workplaces and household finances, throughout the whole year positive evaluations outnumbered negative ones and, despite some fluctuations, this was reasonably stable. Opinions about the state of Poland’s economy were not as good, though also fairly stable and, in the final balance, on the plus side. Politics were unfailingly bottom, with more negative than positive assessments throughout the whole year. The highest level of criticism was noted in May and June.

As in previous years, this year there was less differentiation in forecasts for the future than in assessments of the present and, in each area, continuation of the status quo was seen as the most likely option. However, forecasts for how the political situation would develop were the most pessimistic and, throughout the year, respondents more frequently expected it to worsen than to improve. In the final balance, prognosis for the economy mostly came in just above zero. Also on the plus side were forecasts for respondents’ private lives: their household finances and workplaces, although even here it would be hard to talk about much optimism.