International Educational Conference 2025 Post-conference publication | Page 17

Dr. Michał Bilewicz is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Warsaw. His research primarily focuses on social psychology, including intergroup relations, prejudice,

dehumanization, and conspiracy theories. Bilewicz is noted for his extensive work on antisemitism (he developed the three-factorial model of antisemitic stereotyping, Bilewicz et al.,

2013), reconciliation processes, and collective moral emotions. He has been coordinating the nationally representative Polish Prejudice Survey since 2009 and has served as a member of

the Polish delegation to the IHRA.

The study by Dr. Bilewicz presented the Polish perspective on universal psychological processes related to war trauma, particularly focusing on the concept of the "war complex" identified by early Polish psychologists who researched the values and morality of Polish youth before and after WWII. Key observations included low levels of trust in peers, authorities, and institutions, high anxiety, hypervigilance, and a strong sense of injustice. Reports from survivors revealed feelings of mistreatment and a loss of moral compass, leading to a survival mentality involving dishonesty. Dr. Bilewicz noted that “the societies that have experienced massive war trauma have developed certain worldviews that are very adaptive in times of war but are a big burden today.”

The presentation highlighted the relation between the experience of conflicts and wars, both past and ongoing, and the adherence to conspiracy theories, which prove to be more widespread in the societies affected by different forms of human rights violations or mass atrocities. Further analysis linked higher WWII casualties to increased COVID conspiracy beliefs and skepticism towards science, indicating long-lasting effects of war on societal attitudes, including vulnerability against public health challenges and support for anti-democratic policies. Dr. Bilewicz emphasized that there were other sources that contributed to such attitudes, including poverty and deprivation. “But additionally to them, we should look at the history and look at those long-lasting effects of past trauma,” he noted.∎

Photo: publications stand at the conference.