Abstract / Description of output
Although most Americans support capital punishment, many people have misconceptions about its efficacy and administration (e.g., that capital punishment deters crime). Can correcting people’s inaccurate attitudes change their support for the death penalty? If not, are there other strategies that might shift people’s attitudes about the death penalty? Some research suggests that statistical information can correct misconceptions about polarizing topics. Still, statistics might be irrelevant for some people because they may support capital punishment for purely retributive reasons, suggesting other argumentative strategies may be more effective. In Studies 1 and 2, we examined what attitudes shape endorsement of capital punishment and compared how two different interventions shifted these attitudes. Altogether, our findings suggest that attitudes about capital punishment are based on more than just retributive motives, and that correcting misconceptions related to its administration reduces support for capital punishment.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 41st Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society |
Place of Publication | Montreal |
Publisher | Cognitive Science Society |
Pages | 822-828 |
ISBN (Print) | 0991196775 |
Publication status | Published - 27 Jul 2019 |
Event | 41st Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society - Palais des Congrès de Montréal, Montréal , Canada Duration: 24 Jul 2019 → 27 Jul 2019 Conference number: 41 https://cognitivesciencesociety.org/cogsci-2019/ |
Conference
Conference | 41st Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society |
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Abbreviated title | COGSCI 2019 |
Country/Territory | Canada |
City | Montréal |
Period | 24/07/19 → 27/07/19 |
Internet address |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- capital punishment
- coherence
- open science