Perception of Euro in Poland – Economic and Psychological Factors

Purpose: Diagnosis of the opportunities and threats associated with the introduction of the euro in Poland was the main focus of this study. The research had two main objectives: exploratory and operational. The exploratory objective was to capture the structure of convictions affecting Poles’ attitudes toward the introduction of the euro. The operational objective was to verify which of those convictions have the most infl uence on the lack of support for the introduction of the euro. Methodology: The research was conducted with a national random sample (n=509) of Polish citizens. The CAPI/ CASI face-to-face questionnaire was used. Findings: There exists a multi-level structure of attitudes towards the euro. The attitude toward the introduction of the euro is explained by attitudes toward the euro and the Polish zloty, perceived gains and losses from introduction of the euro and life attitudes. One cannot force another individual to support the introduction of the euro. However, one can act upon the convictions of the nation, which has a major impact on raising euro acceptance. The most impact is from strengthening of national beliefs, which strongly and positively affect the level of euro acceptance, whereas any reduction lowers the acceptance of the introduction of a new currency. Limitations: As any other social phenomena, money perception is very dynamic and dependent on current political and social issues. Therefore, despite the fact that the model seems to defi ne the factors and their influence on euro perception very accurately, it is essential that every time it is applied, the current state of mind of the society is measured. Furthermore, additional research should be conducted for groups deviating from the average results for the society. Originality: The practical aspect of this research is the opportunity to point out convictions, which need to be modified to increase euro acceptance