Abstract

This study analyses the representations of clean/dirty and pure/impure. The first part of the article provides a concise review of how these topics were considered in psychology and other disciplines. The research, carried out on 251 university students, aims to investigate the connections between representations of cleanliness, relational styles (i.e. adult attachment) and prejudicial attitudes in the relationship with others (i.e. subtle and blatant prejudice, ethnocentrism). The main results show a connection between these constructs. In particular, the representations of clean and dirty appear to be more involved than relational styles in the process of distance-taking from others, of which prejudicial attitudes and ethnocentrism are evident expressions.