Year

2012

Degree Type

Honors Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree Name

Honors in the Major

First Advisor

Dr. Christopher Leone

Second Advisor

LouAnne B. Hawkins

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Abstract

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 unfavorable attitudes toward capital punishment. Conversely, extrinsically oriented individuals indicated more than intrinsically oriented individuals favorable attitudes toward capital punishment. We found no significant differences with indiscriminately pro-religious individuals, anti-religious or extrinsically oriented individuals. We discuss limitations and implications.

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