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What are common Polish character traits?

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posts: 216

GrzegorzK

May 29, 11, 02:00 #181

In general Polish people are more religious than most Americans, as of 2010 census 88.2% Poles are Roman Catholic, with a minority that are Jewish, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, and some atheists. This is much different from the U.S.A. where Catholicism is still quite big, but there is large proportion of protestants as well. Poland is probably the most Catholic country on earth, and I mean that people are really truly religious and believe what they were taught as kids... they don't just say they are catholic but haven't been to church in 20 years. Also we have a lot of pride in our country and our people, most of us are hard working and mentally strong. Most Poles of this generation and last generation have experienced totalitarianism, communism, racism, and hatred in some form, therefore Poles never forget their history and appreciate more the gifts of freedom that American society gives them. Where as typical Americans are spoiled and don't know what it's like to live under constant curfew, eat only loafs of bread every day and live in an economically depressed society with no jobs, no 7/11 stores at ever street corner with all conviniences of modern technology. Only in last 20 years has Poland begin to be on level with rest of modern superpowers, but it still has a lot of re-building to go before it can truly be a world super power again. Most people don't realize that Poland has a LONG history, and was once a superpower of the world much like America is today. The country was much larger it included modern day ukraine, belarus, and all baltic states like lithuania, latvia, and estonia and small parts of slovakia and czech, therefore Poles realize that thier country is only a fraction of what it used to be. Being Polish is much more important to Poles then being American is to Americans. Poles see themselves as a unique race of people and therefore we feel much more bonded to each other and to our homeland.

♀

Edited by: Maaarysia May 29, 11, 09:08 #182

GrzegorzK:

and I mean that people are really truly religious and believe what they were taught as kids... they don't just say they are catholic but haven't been to church in 20 years.

LOL
What a bs!

GrzegorzK:

Also we have

We? You live in the USA.

GrzegorzK:

therefore Poles never forget their history and appreciate more the gifts of freedom that American society gives them.

I wouldn't be so sure about that.

GrzegorzK:

it can truly be a world super power again

world what?

GrzegorzK:

Most people don't realize that Poland has a LONG history, and was once a superpower of the world much like America is today.

In XV century.

GrzegorzK:

The country was much larger it included modern day ukraine, belarus, and all baltic states like lithuania, latvia, and estonia and small parts of slovakia and czech, therefore Poles realize that thier country is only a fraction of what it used to be.

No they don't. There are no imperialistic attitudes in Polish society... it would be ridiculous.

GrzegorzK:

Being Polish is much more important to Poles then being American is to Americans.

Another baseless statement.

GrzegorzK:

Poles see themselves as a unique race of people and therefore we feel much more bonded to each other and to our homeland.

Lol.
Come to Poland live here for few years, then you'll see how "bonded" a Pole is to another one.

Antek_StalichThreads: 6 Posts: 1,533 Joined: May 6, 11 ♂	May 29, 11, 09:10 #183
Great post, Marysia. Subscribing to it 100%.

♀

Edited by: Maaarysia May 29, 11, 10:19 #184

So maybe debunk all those myth the poor guy Grzesiek believes. Just in case he comes here in future, lives for a while and feels dissapointed.

1. Religious nation myth.
I heard that those statistics that 90-something % of Polish society are religious are in fact based on Church statistics of how many people are baptised in RCC. And that's true that most of people were baptised and have been brought up in Catholic tradition. By a Catholic tradition I mean they were celebrating Christmas, Easter etc in Polish traditional way.
However, funnily enough, most of my friends (young people) are agnostic or atheist... so how's it possible if 90-something % of Poles are Catholics?
Also many people are lapsed Catholics.
I would say that truly believing people are elders, they are frequent church-goers not only in Sundays but also in a minor celebrations.
People in middle age (40-65) can be either atheist or Catholics but they are mostly opportunists. I know many people in that age who say that they are avid Catholics but in fact, in everyday life, they don't bother too much about Christian values. So Catholisism in this case is very superficial.
Some young people very deeply believe in God, some are not intrested in spiritual issues at all, some are atheists, some are even against religion. It's all veriety of attidutes.
As for the other creeds and religions, there is some Protestant diaspora in Poland, maybe some Eastern Orthodox, the rest is rare.

I have an impression that Catholisism in Poland is more about traditions which blended with Polish customs (if you ask a Pole about Polish tradition most likely he would tell you about way of celebrating Christmas), than a truly spiritual experience. That's why some poeple mixes those issues: being patriotic with being Catholic (fortunately it's only a loud miniority, not a mainstream attitude, which is more mellow and balanced).

I don't have to say that most people don't really give a toss about contraception or premariage sex being evil or what Church says about other "sensitive issues". I never met a person who wouldn't use contraceptions because of religious reasons. I say that because many foreigners here seem to have really naive and ridiculous beliefs that probably most Poles being Catholic don't use contarceptions, marry early and wait with sex untill marraige. Lol, even the generation of my parents would laugh hearing that...

2. Poles feel bond.

Even in Poland there is autostereotype of Poles being very envious and mean to each other. Poland is described by sociologists as a country of very weak bonds within the society. It is said that many people are very indifferent to other people's suffering unless it's their own family (family bonds are rather strong indeed). Many people are very mistrustful to strangers. They won't invite you to their house if they don't know you.
During the times of recent emigartion (to the UK), do you know what was the most prevalent street smart advice? To keep away from other Poles abroad, because those other Poles are likely to deceive or use you.
I don't want to leave here an impression that Poles shouldn't be trust in general, it's just that every nation has its own self stereotypes which are not necessarly true in wider perspective. I think it's healthy to say that like in every society around the planet some people are bad, some people are good...

3.

Being Polish is much more important to Poles then being American is to Americans

Believe me, Americans are way more patriotic.

4.

therefore Poles realize that thier country is only a fraction of what it used to be

These are your original beliefs. No one in Poland shares it.
Note that Poland was partitioned, and shared among 3 countries: Prussia, Russia and Austria. Following your logic a German could say that today Germany is just a fraction and in fact German boarder should ends far beyond Odra river. A Russian could say that a Poland should never been in the UE and Nato because it should be in Russian influence zone just like she was during the times of Iron Curtain.

5.

Poles never forget their history and appreciate more the gifts of freedom that American society gives them

You would be shocked to see Solidarity protests of todays with slogans: "Nie o taką Polskę walczyliśmy".

♂

May 29, 11, 13:01 #185

Nice post, Maaarysia (182). Your second one? Hold on

Yeah, there are many 'paper Catholics'. No wonder paper and papacy are so close ;) ;) You could even take the number of practising Catholics down to 55-60%.

Loved your point about weak bonds. I remember reading in a guidebook that vodka is the glue that holds Polish society together. If that is in any way true, G-d help you. Poles tend to be distrustful, suspicious and, outwith the realms of their superb hospitable spirit, stingy.

Another one is 'expectant'. I've known different students to show up 15 mins late to a lesson having not called or texted me to let me know. Then comes the audacious part. They want the full hour from their time of arrival. That's wholly disrespectful to my plans and time. My Polish friend, Agata, has the same sentiment about her students that do it to her.

Americans are far more patriotic, that's true. Poles tend to be more pragmatic with their patriotism. What do I mean? Americans get sucked into the nonsense that their country is altruistic, just and completely free. They clearly haven't read the latest script ;) ;) Poles value Polishness more. It's a character thing more than a symbolic thing like it is with America.

Exactly, Maaarysia. Poland is still a powerful entity that has raised its profile in recent years. Credit to Poland for that. I think those Poles who wish for this grandiose and huge Poland would do well to shut up and stop criticising Russia for wanting to be bigger.

Gifts of freedom? LOL. GregK plays space invaders in his head, I think.

What were they taught as kids, Greg? Go on, give us a laugh. Mentally strong? ROTFL. Many Polish women are amongst the weakest people I have ever met and probably will ever meet. They are constantly ill, moaning or lacking in some way. When I think of Scottish girls, I think fighters that get on with things without broadcasting their ailments in whimpering fashion.

southernThreads: 116 Posts: 10,955 Joined: May 17, 07 ♂	Edited by: southern May 29, 11, 13:11 #186
Seanus: Many Polish women are amongst the weakest people I have ever met and probably will ever meet. They are constantly ill, moaning or lacking in some way. That's why we love them,isn't it?Slavic women are in general more fragile and emotional.

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,158 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	May 29, 11, 13:19 #187
Hmmm...not exactly what I was getting at, southern. I don't like dealing with the needless, emotional baggage of women when it is built on attention seeking and self pity. If sth is really getting them down then that's different. However, all too many just gripe and groan and it really wears thin.

MaaarysiaThreads: 3 Posts: 541 Joined: Feb 27, 10 ♀	May 29, 11, 13:23 #188
Seanus: baggage of women when it is built on attention seeking and self pity. It's easy to fix. A simple hug solves the problem :)

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,158 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	May 29, 11, 13:26 #189
Then you are just encouraging them more, Maaarysia. It only puts the brakes on until the next outburst of 'poor me' :(

MaaarysiaThreads: 3 Posts: 541 Joined: Feb 27, 10 ♀	May 29, 11, 13:28 #190
Have you read that famous book Men are from Mars women from Venus? It really explains why women act like that and why men are frustrated seeing women acting like that

southernThreads: 116 Posts: 10,955 Joined: May 17, 07 ♂	May 29, 11, 13:34 #191
Seanus: I don't like dealing with the needless, emotional baggage of women when it is built on attention seeking and self pity. The rewards are too large not to do so.After all we all need some relief.

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,158 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	May 29, 11, 13:40 #192
I'd like to read parts of that book, Maaarysia. My co-teacher did a class on it. How does it apply to Polish women? Southern, the relief comes when they stop it and chill out a little :) Being too uptight isn't good for your health ;)

southernThreads: 116 Posts: 10,955 Joined: May 17, 07 ♂	May 29, 11, 13:49 #193
I always feel sorry for the unluckiness that hits the majority of Polki.It is like a road full of suffering a Golgotha of tortures.But it is caused largely by their actions although I have to adapt to slavic superstitions and accept it as a result of fate.

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,158 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	May 29, 11, 13:57 #194
On the positive side, Poles show a lot of camaraderie in class. Interacting amongst themselves is quite natural for them. This is a really endearing quality that I like in many of them.

♀

Edited by: Maaarysia May 29, 11, 14:04 #195

Seanus:

How does it apply to Polish women?

It applies to women in general :)
Women in general are more emotional and it comes from the differences in upbringing betweem girls and boys. Boys are taught to bottle up their emotions, keep their feelings for themselves, never cry and be strong, while girls aren't an object of such pressures. That's why women feel freely to show their emotions and talk about their problems. Men, in the other hand, if they have problems they tend to isolate from the others and bear with their inner problems alone.
The biggest misunderstanding between the genders is that women are complaining. When women complain, men think that women tell them about their problems because they want an advice or a solution. They don't. They just want to vent their frustrations or simply chat. A man gets frustrated when he offers a solution and it doesn't work - a woman still complains. On the other side, women get frustrated when they are offered a solution because in fact they don't ask for a solution so they see it as a way of trivilise their problems or a way of brushing them off.
That's in a nutshell. How to solve the problem? Give them what they want - a little bit of attention. They will deal with their emotions quicker and you'll be a tender, carring and loving husband/boyfriend in their eyes :)

♂

May 29, 11, 14:13 #196

Fair points, Maaarysia :) Attention is what they crave, yes, and I could also throw in sth about timing. I often feel like I'm on standby, waiting for that moment when my wife is free. You made a great point about offering solutions. I've found that 'no, nie wiem, no' is quite effective when I never thought it would be. A Scottish woman would perhaps feel disappointed with her man for what she perceives as weakness in this situation. For some Polish women, it is a sign that you are listening but don't want to tresspass into their domain as they should be finding solutions when at work, for example. Men have to accept that some Polish women will launch off into a monologue about sth that has been gnawing away at them.

MaaarysiaThreads: 3 Posts: 541 Joined: Feb 27, 10 ♀	May 29, 11, 14:18 #197
Seanus: Men have to accept that some Polish women will launch off into a monologue about sth that has been gnawing away at them. Do you know that the author of the book is American? ;) I mean maybe Scottish women are emotionally strong but it seems that your wife's problems are nothing unusual in the globe scale as the book was world-wide bestseller ;)

♂

May 29, 11, 14:22 #198

Nationality is not so important in such cases. Perception is :)

I like my wife's approach at times. Like my family in Scotland, she doesn't suffer fools gladly and educated Poles can be this way. They don't like 'wieśniaki' when they exhibit plain ignorance. Some would interpret this as pouring their derision/scorn on others but it's more like they are disappointed with what they see in them. Such Poles can be critical but, in this case, it's a good thing.

southernThreads: 116 Posts: 10,955 Joined: May 17, 07 ♂	May 29, 11, 14:32 #199
Western and mediteranean women are way stronger than slavic ones especially germanic women who are very cold blooded.Slavic women notice that here that mediteranean women have a thicker skin(of course it makes them less feminine and attractive as well).

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,158 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	May 29, 11, 15:01 #200
To get away from generalisations, we could focus on a specific difference in types. Again, it shows a polarity amongst Poles. There is the anarchic type that resents authority, therefore resistant, and another which rigidly adheres to the letter of the law. This is a source of much conflict here. You could say the same about many cultures but it's very evident here.

♂

May 29, 11, 16:48 #201

southern:

Western and mediteranean women are way stronger than slavic ones especially germanic women who are very cold blooded.Slavic women notice that here that mediteranean women have a thicker skin(of course it makes them less feminine and attractive as well).

I love such generalisations. My russian girlsfriend, and most of her friends, are pretty strong. They must be, since growing up in such a mess like Russia needs a strong will. The same is true for all women in slavic countries, since all these societies changed very much in the last 20 years. Compared to Slavic women women in western, stable countries get pampered.
The only difference I notice is that Slavic women prefer a more traditional role in a relationship, since their societies are much more traditional too. But even here I see a big difference between, lets say, Czech and Russian women.

Olaf D	Aug 8, 11, 22:52 #202
What a pile of B/s!!! Genetics v National Character, cultural traits and conditioning :o ??? Anyone here read psychology, ever?

Olaf D

Aug 9, 11, 00:30 #203

People of Polish cultural heritage tend to be like everyone else, each and every individual different, with capacity to be at best the gentlest, polished, gallant and noblest creature, and at its worst the cruelest, coldest human animal that walked this earth.

The experience that changed and shaped today’s culture and differentiates Poles to other cultures is the experience of 200 years of oppression and systematic attempt to destroy it, witnessing the worst betrayal of any human values perpetrated by the “enlightened” hypocritical neighbors and tolerated in silence by promoters of these values.
And yet in no small feat they have survived despite all sorts of hyenas feeding of their flesh for centuries, and it has nothing to do with genetics, or nationalism or even patriotism. Res Publicum Polonorum was not a nation it was an ideal.

So yes most are proud, arrogant, immensely independent, strong, hard and indomitable, yet gentle, kind polish and all too often naïve hoping for best, preparing for worst relaying on no one but their own ingenuity and living every day like it may be their last, cautious eternal optimism of jaded pessimist hardened by the reality of life.
Sometimes we procrastinate, are tetchy, explosive, angry and full of hurt pride and feelings, cold and uncompromising, ready to stand for principles and die, sometimes we weep and hate ourselves, and procrastinate, but we mend our wounds, we learn and grow, then we dance and laugh, all that because we love life and we tend to live it truly, fully and truthfully to who we are even if often we are ignorant of it ourselves.

Again yes often we are divided, spiteful of each others successes, jealous and mistrustful, this is the legacy of failed social experiment by communist occupation and their servants and thieves, where people who suffered horrors of war for nearly 6 years were now once more occupied and sold for peace for 45 years where family members was forced to inform on their brothers, mothers and fathers.
Where for 45 years people who fought against tyranny and died for their homes, families and dignity were killed, persecuted and subjugated.
The scars are fresh and deep, they itch and will keep itching for generations to come.

Yet I am confident that next generations will learn how to trust each other again and perhaps in my lifetime traumas of our yesterday however still alive in cultural memory will mend (my polish naiveté popping out hahaha :> )

Have listen to this interpretation by Marek Grachuta the poem written by Tadeusz Nowak.
youtube.com/watch?v=YnCR1xhc3KQ

Foreigner4Threads: 22 Posts: 1,987 Joined: Nov 18, 07 ♂	Aug 9, 11, 10:39 #204
petty and competitive, noble and trustworthy- everything depends on the situation as it seems these elements belong to every national character in the world. There is only the question of how these traits are expressed, not whether or not they do.

♂

Aug 9, 11, 10:51 #205

Overly assertive in a defensive fashion - The smart person pretends not to have the monopoly of info on any one subject and will say that they simply don't know. However, quite a few people here just can't confess to not knowing sth and will even say 'of course' when the answer is not that. I saw it yesterday in a game show too. The 'of course' suddenly became 'nope, you are wrong' as the answer was given. It's quite visible in some circles.

♀

Nov 30, 11, 23:05 #206

Hello , my Father was Polish ,married an English woman after the war and settled in England. My Father was tough ,hard working, very loving towards me and openly affectionate, not a trait that I had noticed from my friends Fathers I have to say, Dads did not hug daughters much that I noticed in those days [ I was born in 1954]. He was very compassionate towards people in need of a bed for the night, food, money, a kind word. Our house was an open door to anyone that was down on their luck. My freinds loved him and were always made welcome. If sombody dropped in unexpected the first thing to be offered was food and drink. He loved animals and missed his family farm that he could not return to after the war [ read my other posts]. He taught me not to judge people and told me that we can never know a persons story that may have led them to be, [for example ], living on the street or addicted to alcohol or drugs. I went to visit Poland for the first time when I was 7 and the love that I felt from all of the relatives was overwhelming . My polish Grandmother squeezed me so tight and kissed and hugged me every 5 minutes. I was heartbroken when we had to return to England. Growing up there was a Polish community in our town and to be among those people was always the most fun. I found them to be very hard working,kind, fun loving, straight forward, down to earth.I was born and raised in England but love Poland and Polish people and feel at home there. I now live in Canada and find Canadians very kind and open hearted people.

ShAlEyNsTfOhThreads: 8 Posts: 232 Joined: Feb 5, 11 ♂ [Suspended]	Dec 1, 11, 00:07 #207
GrzegorzK: This is much different from the U.S.A. where Catholicism is still quite big, but there is large proportion of protestants as well. with the recent influx of hispanics, who are mostly roman catholics and VERY religious, it is only going to grow larger in the years to come. :)

Guest	Jan 8, 12, 19:35 #208
I don't believe stealing is an ethnic trait. Just because your fiance is a certain way, doesn't justify a whole country of people and their behaviors/characteristic!

michelitamaniac	Feb 10, 12, 20:01 #209
wasn't lois on malcolm in the middle polish? lol

beckskiThreads: 19 Posts: 2,148 Joined: May 15, 07 MEMBER ♀	Edited by: beckski Feb 11, 12, 03:55 #210
Yup... Jane Kaczmarek A sincere thanks PF, for putting up with me FIVE terrific years, muah!

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