Access to Resources in Various Life Aspects As a Predictor of Attitudes Towards "Others" Among Young Adults from Poland and Israel

The theory of a real conflict (Campbell) presupposes that limited resources lead to conflict amongst social groups that compete with each other, of which stereotypes, prejudice and the discrimination are the consequence. The idea of the research was to check whether this concept will be applicable to explain social antagonisms in contemporary Poland and Israel, especially in the discourse about minorities, migrants and refugees. These two countries differ significantly in terms of society structure, with Israel being much more diverse as minorities constitute approximately 40% of its population and Poland extremely homogenous, with less than 3% of inhabitants of different cultural context.

The research was carried out in the years 2015-2017 on the group of 254 young adults from Poland (N=131) and Israel (N=123), both men and women aged 18-28. The methods used were both quantitative and qualitative, including self-descript_ive questionnaires, individual interviews and focus groups. At first, respondents were asked about their satisfaction with available resources in various life aspects. Secondly, the attitudes towards other social groups including religious, national and ethnic minorities were measured. The way of choosing the research group was especially significant since it consisted of individuals working as or planning to become teachers and educators. As such, they will play an important role in shaping attitudes of a young generations. This is why observing and influencing their approach seems to be crucial for xenophobia prevention among members of the two societies.

In both Polish and Israeli sample, a number of correlations was observed between examined variables that allows to assume that improving life satisfaction and sense of stability among young adults may significantly reduce their negative attitudes and raise openness towards "others". Also, the role of contact with representatives of one of the minority groups and its quality was measured and discussed.