STEREOTYPES AND PREJUDICES IN MILITARY-CIVILIAN COMMUNITY OF THE POLISH NAVY

Abstract

Based on the Tajfel’s and Turner’s Social Identity Theory an own research was con-structed. The aim of the study was to check whether stereotyping andprejudices occur in relations between groups of army civilians and soldiers working together in the Polish Na-vy. In a questionnaire, 96 soldiers and 104 army civilians reported perceptions of their own vocational group and of the out-group and expressed dehumanization of the in-and out-group members. Respondents showed in-group favoritism in trait and emotion evaluations, but mutual dehumanization did not occur. However, it is interesting to note that, the group of regular soldiers was dehumanizing itself. The most important finding for practice is that members of both groups who have participated in integration workshops showed lower in-group favoritism, than integration non-participants. The implications of these results are dis-cussed.