Historical Roots of Generalized Trust in Polish Society

The article analyses how historical events shape generalized trust in contemporary Polish society. The analysis consists of a set of logistic regression models. The impact of historical variables is controlled for age, sex, education and the size of the municipality. This is the first quantitative study on Poland that links historical events with the current levels of trust among Polish citizens. The common knowledge is that the Partitions of Poland had negative impact on trust. Literature on the topic hints that historical demo? graphics should play a role too. The findings suggest that Partitions had little impact with only Greater Poland and Pomerania having lower levels of generalized trust. Historical literacy rate and the presence of Ukrainian or Belarusian population are negatively associated with generalized trust while the abrupt migrations after the World War I are positively associated. The rapid character of migration is supposed to positively impact generalized trust by forcing individuals to cooperate and rely on people with whom they have no personal ties.