Poster #105 - Abolition Under Pressure: Lurking Punitiveness in Public Perceptions of the Death Penalty

• In Event: Poster Session II (posters 80 – 155)

Abstract

Background: Prior research on the Marshall Hypothesis suggests that increased awareness of flaws in the death penalty reduces public support for capital punishment. However, little research has examined whether opposition to the death penalty is similarly vulnerable to change under emotionally provocative conditions. This study introduces the concept of lurking punitiveness, or the possibility that self-identified abolitionists may retain latent punitive attitudes.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey design, 2,000 U.S. respondents recruited through Prolific Research were asked whether they supported complete abolition of the death penalty. Respondents supporting abolition were then presented with a hypothetical scenario involving a violent offender whose guilt was beyond question. Responses were analyzed to determine whether participants maintained or reversed their opposition to capital punishment.

Results: Among respondents who initially supported abolition, 57.5% changed their position and endorsed the death penalty after exposure to the hypothetical scenario. Findings suggest that opposition to capital punishment may be conditional and emotionally reactive rather than firmly rooted in stable moral opposition.

Conclusions: These findings challenge assumptions that declining support for the death penalty reflects a stable movement toward abolition. Instead, abolitionist sentiment may remain vulnerable to emotionally charged narratives involving extreme violence and certain guilt.

Author

• John J. Toulouse, University of Nevada, Reno