How the Interaction of Race and Religion Affects Attitudes Toward Capital Punishment

• In Event: Race/Ethnicity, Public Opinion, and Criminal Justice

Abstract

Capital punishment is a complicated social phenomenon that has been discussed by different scholars. They have shown that people's emotions play a key role in determining individuals' attitudes toward capital punishment. Both religion and race are important emotional sources that can shape individuals' mindsets and attitudes. However, religion and race are in many aspects intertwined and interrelated. The main premise of the present study is that religion consists of different aspects, each of which may interact with an individual's racial identity and then have different impacts on attitudes toward capital punishment. Operationalizing religion as a multidimensional construct, this study simultaneously tested the independent effects of four dimensions of religion (religiosity, spirituality, afterlife beliefs, and religious affiliation) on attitudes toward capital punishment. This study aims to create interaction variables for each of these dimensions and individuals' race. The data from the 2018 General Social Survey (GSS) will be used to test the present study's hypothesis.

Author

• Soheil Sabriseilabi, Troy University