Social Solidarity and Crisis. Recent Change in Poland in European Comparative Perspective

Abstract

The topic of the article is the question of change of the values related to social solidarity in time of crisis. Crisis presents test for the systems of values and group solidarity. European Value Survey (EVS), World Value Survey (WVS) and Eurobarometer are empirical base for this article. As first is analyzed an influence of the crisis on the balance of materialistic and post-materialistic values. The effect of crisis is a step back from the post-materialistic to materialistic values. This is also visible through increase of significance of high pay in work. The crisis is also accompanied by the growth of egocentrism. The people more tend to stick to own affairs. The other influence of the crisis on social solidarity was studied in two dimensions. The first one is a horizontal dimension. They are attitudes toward sick, disabled and unemployed. The second dimension is a vertical one. This is a feeling of compassion to different social groups: starting from neighborhood community to the World as a whole. The study confirmed that under the crisis the solidarity with most of the groups has weakened. On the horizontal axis the compassion toward sick, disabled and unemployed is lower after the crisis. On the horizontal dimension this depend on the degree of proximity. In the time of crisis the solidarity toward the people from the neighborhood, and from the national and European communities have increased. The same time the solidarity with the World as a whole and support for the assistance for the Third World has decreased. Crisis has extended materialistic values and the egocentric orientation as well. This has weakened internal group solidarity, and readiness to help more distant groups. However, it has not caused fundamental change in the patterns of inner-country and European solidarity.