Poster #238 - Tracking the Changing Relationship Between Legal Consciousness and Perceived Punishment Severity Across Political Orientations

• In Event: ASC Poster Session II

Abstract

Legal consciousness and political ideology are well-established determinants of perceived punishment severity. However, their dynamic interplay over time remains underexplored, particularly within non-Western contexts. This study analyzes repeated cross-sectional data collected by the Korean Legislation Research Institute (KLRI) from nationally representative samples of Korean adults (aged 18 and older) across three survey waves (N = 9,206). Findings reveal that respondents identifying as progressive consistently demonstrate a positive association between legal consciousness and perceived punishment severity. In contrast, conservative respondents initially exhibit a positive association, which later reverses into a statistically significant negative relationship. This shift appears to be influenced by salient socio-political events that reconfigured punitive attitudes among conservative cohorts. These findings underscore the need for criminal justice policymakers and communicators to implement ideologically tailored messaging strategies that are sensitive to temporal and contextual variations, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of policy communication in an evolving political landscape.

Author

• Alice J. Kim, University of Florida