Psychology Commons^™

Death By Religion? Individual Differences In Attitudes About Capital Punishment, Heather Johnston

UNF Undergraduate Honors Theses

There is evidence that a relationship between religiosity (intrinsic, extrinsic, indiscriminately pro-religious or indiscriminately anti-religious orientation toward one’s religious beliefs) and differences in attitudes about life and death social issues exists. Mainstream religions (e.g., Catholic and Protestant) have officially stated opposition to capital punishment while most individuals who are part of these mainstream religions favor capital punishment. In this study, 150 college students completed two different measures of religiosity and one measure of attitudes about capital punishment. Participant’s scores on two measures of religiosity were predictive of attitudes toward capital punishment. Intrinsically oriented individuals indicated more than extrinsically oriented individuals …