RESUMO: Referenciado na Teoria das Representacoes Sociais, este trabalho objetivou investigar as representacoes sociais de ciganos entre nao ciganos, bem como a dimensao afetiva a elas associada. Participaram do estudo, desenvolvido em duas etapas, universitarios de instituicoes publicas e privadas da Grande Vitoria-ES. No primeiro estudo (E1), os participantes responderam a um questionario estruturado (n=108), composto pelos seguintes nucleos de informacao: evocacoes livres referentes ao termo ‘ciganos’, campo afetivo relacionado ao objeto de representacao, niveis de contato com ciganos e dados socioeconomicos; e no segundo estudo (E2) foram realizadas entrevistas (n=09) com questoes exploratorias acerca do conhecimento dos participantes sobre os ciganos, dos sentimentos a eles associados e das experiencias de contato com este grupo etnico. Os dados de E1 foram tratados por meio do software SPAD-T, cuja analise indicou a formacao de tres clusters de sujeitos a partir da dimensao afetiva investigada: ‘sentimentos positivos’ (n=18), ‘sentimentos negativos’ (n=27) e ‘ambiguos’ (n=63). Na segunda etapa, foram entrevistados os sujeitos do cluster ‘sentimentos positivos’, e o tratamento dos dados foi realizado atraves do software ALCESTE e da Analise de Conteudo. Os resultados permitem discutir que os individuos apresentaram variacoes nas representacoes acerca do objeto social ‘ciganos’. A formacao do campo representacional e de sua dimensao afetiva estiveram apoiados na imagem dos ciganos (a) como povo alegre, da danca e de roupas coloridas, que desperta sentimentos de curiosidade, encantamento e admiracao, mas tambem (b) de um grupo que rouba e trapaceia, provocando inseguranca, medo e mal-estar entre os nao ciganos. ABSTRACT : Referenced in the Social Representations Theory, this research aimed at investigating the social representations of gypsies among non-gypsies and the affective dimension associated with these representations. Participated in this study, carried out in two stages, students from the metropolitan region of Vitoria-ES. In a first study (E1) they answered to a structured questionnaire (n=108), consisted of the following information sets: free evocations bind to the term 'gypsy', affective field related to the object of representation, contact experiences with gypsies and socioeconomic data; and in a second study (E2) there were conducted interviews (n=09) with exploratory questions about the participants' knowledge regarding the gypsies, feelings directed to them and levels of contact with this ethnic group. Data from E1 were processed by using the SPAD-T software, whose analysis indicated the formation of three clusters of subjects considering the affective dimension: positive feelings (n=18), negative feelings (n=27) and ambiguous (n=63). In the second stage, subjects from the 'positive feelings' cluster were interviewed, and data processing was performed by using ALCESTE software and Content Analysis. The results allow discussing that individuals had variations in the representations about the social object 'gypsies'. The formation of the representational field and its affective dimension were supported by the image of gypsies (a) as happy people, who dance and wear colorful clothes, which arouses feelings of curiosity, dazzlement and admiration, but also (b) of a group who steals and cheats, causing insecurity, fear and malaise among non-gypsies.