Zofia Patora-Wysocka

University of Social Sciences, Department of Management,

Lodz, Poland

E-mail: zpatora-wysocka@san.edu.pl

ORCID 0000-0002-0429-0207

Acceptance of whistleblowing and social capital

Grzegorz Ignatowski

University of Social Sciences, Department of Management,

Lodz, Poland

E-mail: gignatowski@san.edu.pl

ORCID 0000-0002-4432-8476

Bartłomiej Stopczyński

University of Social Sciences, Department of Management,

Lodz, Poland

E-mail: bstopczynski@san.edu.pl

ORCID 0000-0001-8941-7424

Joanna Trębska

University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology,

Lodz, Poland

E-mail: joanna.trebska@uni.lodz.pl

ORCID 0000-0002-0398-5867

Abstract. The objective of the article is to analyse the relationship between whistleblowing and the level of social capital in Poland. A quantitative survey was conducted on a sample of 577 adult Poles. The findings indicated that the evaluation of a whistleblower's attitude depends significantly on the level of social capital. Individuals with higher social capital rate whistleblowers better and have a higher propensity to engage in whistleblowing. The research results also show that while most respondents express a favourable opinion of whistleblowing, the willingness to be a whistleblower is reported by only 28% of respondents. The analysis also demonstrated that the majority recognise the need for legal protection of whistleblowers, as well as measures to implement tools and procedures to support whistleblowing. Thus, whistleblowing should be supported and promoted in organisations. Tools and procedures should be implemented to help employees who wish to become whistleblowers to obtain adequate protection. A potential avenue for further research would be to examine the impact of social capital on the phenomenon of whistleblowing from the perspective of countries with diverse social capital, for example, the members of the European Union and those countries currently in the admission process.

Received: April, 2025

1st Revision: January, 2026

Accepted: April, 2026

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2026/19-1/8

JEL Classification: J8, M54, K4

Keywords: whistleblowing, organisational whistleblowing, whistleblower, acceptance of whistleblowing, social capital