Abstract
The perception of intergroup similarity and ingroup identification: Do they increase or reduce preju dice? This study examines the role played by intergroup similarity and identity in intergroup relations. The main purpose was to determine the relation between ingroup/outgroup perceived similarity and ingroup identification, with attitudes towards several immigrants groups. 400 secondary school students answered a questionnaire composed by three scales: ingroup identification, perceived intergroup similarity, and social distance. Multidimensional analysis of similarity scales showed that people basically employ two dimensions: status similarity and attitudinal similarity. These two dimensions allowed to determine three outgroup categories: similar groups, high status dissimilar groups and low status dissimilar group. Lastly, the analysis of the answer to social distances scales showed that similarity explains the greatest percentage of variance.
