Stereotypical perception of 'Strangers' in the opinion of Polish and Ukrainian students

Objectives The presented pieces of research are parts of a larger research project, the aim of which was to try to define the differences in perception (stereotyping) of people of other nationalities ("Strangers") by Polish and Ukrainian youths. For the purpose of the research, it was assumed that when describing people, stereotypes evaluate and judge them with a positive or negative affect. Material and methods The research employed the method of a diagnostic survey with the questionnaire technique with the use of the author’s Questionnaire Survey for Poles and Ukrainians. In total, the study included 491 Ukrainian students, 285 from central Ukraine and 206 from the western, and 480 Polish students, including 261 from eastern Poland and 219 from central. Results Research has shown that the surveyed students from Poland and Ukraine have a positive perception of Americans, English, Swedes and Germans. Arabs, Jews, Indians and Nigerians are perceived neutrally, while Russians are viewed mostly negatively. The greatest variation can be seen in the perception of the Chinese. Poles perceive them in a more positive way. On the other hand, the mutual relations between the surveyed Poles and Ukrainians are situated in the area of neutral perception. Conclusions However, it should be emphasized that in each of the analyzes, various positive or negative intensities of the dominant features occur.