The Personality of the Poles − an Attempt at a Characterization

Abstract

Assuming the relative theory of personality the author intends to characterize the environmental components of Poles' personality. The essential role in the forming of the Polish personality have such environmental elements as: the Vistula river, landscapes of mountains (especially the Tatra mountains and the Baltic Sea-Coast). As far as the Polish towns are concerned the most important which play a role in the creation of personality are: Warsaw, Cracow and Częstochowa.

The tests generally used by Polish psychologists are directed towards the study of the features allowing a clinical diagnosis. Yet, those tests are not suitable tools to measure the features of personality in the population of mentally healthy persons. Moreover, those tools are inadequate for Polish conditions since they are insufficiently justified adaptations (according to psychometry) of the foreign tests (mostly American). In this situation, there is a lack of adequate psychometric bases to estimate the features of Poles' personality. An attempt at the characteristics of those features can only be based on the estimation made by psychologists. Initial results of such like estimation point to the fact that such features are treated as the crucial (among others): religiousness, loyalty, hospitality, courage, trend towards freedom. In difficult situations the crucial features of Poles' behaviour are: social integration (solidarity), psychical mobilization, romantic fantasy and idealism, heroism, straightforwardness and looking for a solution in a creative way.