Two Forms of Racism in Poland as an Explanation of Ideologically Driven Anti‐Refugee Hostility

Research on attitudes toward refugees in Poland shows a large gap between the acceptance of refugees from Ukraine and refugees from other regions of the world. Since 2020 there have been numerous cases of mistreatment of asylum‐seekers aiming to cross the Polish‐Belorussian border. Widespread social support for violent treatment of asylum‐seekers from the Middle East and Sub‐Saharan Africa, compared to Ukrainian refugees, has raised important questions about racism as a potential motivator of such attitudes. At the same time, research on racism in Poland, a highly racially homogeneous country, is scarce. In the present study we would like to propose that the structure of racism in Poland has two key forms: modern, which is ideologically driven, and biological, which is based on the basic emotion of disgust. A large‐scale, nation‐wide sample study showed that these two forms of racism significantly predict people's support for violent anti‐refugee actions, as well as discriminatory policies.