Informed or Influenced? Effects of Misconceptions in Media on

American Perception of Capital Punishment

Kayla BolingNorth Carolina School of Science and Mathematics

What comes to mind when

we think of the death

penalty in the US today?

Previous Research

● Attitudinal factors such as authoritarianism and egalitarianism influence support for and opposition to capital punishment (Unnever et al., 2005)

● Demographic factors influence support and opposition, Northern and more urban areas more opposed (Maggard et al., 2011)

● Lifestyle factors like crime-related television viewing predict support (Holbert et al., 2004)

Why should you care?

Your tax dollars are being spent on implementing capital punishment

Legislators need to make informed decisions for your state You may have the

opportunity to vote on capital punishment in your state

Is the practice of capital punishment just? Lives are at stake.

Research Questions and HypothesesRQ1: How do common misconceptions in the media influence support for or opposition to the death penalty in the US?

H1: Agreeing with the common misconceptions put forth in this survey predicts significant support for capital punishment in the US.

RQ2: Will information from a believed credible source change a respondent’s attitude toward the death penalty?

H2: Information from a believed credible source will change a respondent’s attitude toward the death penalty.

Methods, Misconceptions Portion

● Survey on Qualtrics● 232 responses through Amazon Mechanical

Turk● Asking for opinion on the death penalty● Testing how much respondents agree or

disagree with misconceptions using 6pt likert items

● Bivariate regression of support vs agree● Mosaic plots and contingency tables,

graphical analysis

Methods, Experimental Portion

● Respondents view passages opposing their expressed attitude towards the death penalty

● Introduced as from the New York Times● Respondents are asked if the passage

changed their opinion● Asked which factors of the passage were

influential

Results: Misconceptions Predict Support

Statement Correlation Coefficient r

Defendants receiving a death sentence will probably be re-sentenced later on appeal.

.13

Many defendants sentenced to life in prison eventually get out on parole.

.14

The judge usually has the final say in sentencing at a capital murder trial.

.15

No one on death row is innocent. .26

The death penalty is more cost-effective than a life sentence.

.37

The death penalty serves as an effective deterrent to potential criminals.

.48

(Boling)

Support in terms of agree vs disagree

(Boling)

Respondents willing to change their mindsCondition Participants Initial Attitude Net Change in Opinion

(in points on likert scale)

True Cost Passage N=64 Support or Unknown -1.37

False Cost Passage N=45 Oppose or Unknown +1.09

Cost (true or false) N=109 Any ±1.23

True Deterrence Passage N=79 Support or Unknown -1.07

False Deterrence Passage N=49 Oppose or Unknown +0.94

Deterrence (true or false) N=123 Any ±1.00

Both True Passages N=138 Support or Unknown -1.22

Both False Passages N=94 Oppose or Unknown +1.01

(Boling)

Cost and Deterrence

● Largest differences in support for agree vs disagree

● Greatest predictors of support● Implies that these are the most commonly

misunderstood aspects of the death penalty, most important aspects of the death penalty

● How can we inform people?

Summary of Findings

● There is an association between agreeing with misconceptions and supporting the death penalty

● Agreeing with the statement: “The death penalty is an effective deterrent to potential violent criminals” predicts the most support for capital punishment

● The statement “The death penalty is cost-efficient” is the second most influential in terms of support

Summary of Findings, Cont.

● Respondents are willing to change their minds after reading media they believe is from a credible source

● It does not matter whether or not the information given is true

● Both support and opposition to the death penalty are strongly influenced by one’s moral viewpoint

Suggestions for Future Studies● Focus on geographic region and comparing

death penalty vs non death penalty states● Further study on the importance of moral

beliefs, how people draw moral conclusions● Test specific media campaigns meant to

combat misinformation● Determine the greatest sources of

misinformation

Bibliography● Unnever, James D., Francis T. Cullen, and Julian V. Roberts. "NOT

EVERYONE STRONGLY SUPPORTS THE DEATH PENALTY: Assessing Weakly-Held Attitudes about Capital Punishment." American Journal of Criminal Justice : AJCJ 29.2 (2005): 187-VII.

● Holbert, Lance R.; Shah, Dhavan V.; Kwak, Nojin. FEAR, AUTHORITY, AND JUSTICE: CRIME-RELATED TV VIEWING AND ENDORSEMENTS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT AND GUN OWNERSHIP. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly; Summer 2004; 81, 2

● Bowers, William J., Benjamin D. Steiner, and Michael E. Antonio (2003). "The Capital Sentencing Decision: Guided Discretion, Reasoned Moral Judgment, or Legal Fiction." In James R. Acker, Robert M. Bohm, and Charles S. Lanier, (2nd Ed.) America's Experiment with Capital Punishment: Reflections on the Past, Present, and Future of the Ultimate Penal Sanction (Second Edition). Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.

Bibliography, Cont.

● Bowers, William J. and Benjamin D. Steiner (1999). "Death by Default: An Empirical Demonstration of False and Forced Choices in Capital Sentencing." 77 Texas Law Review 605.

● Bowers, William J., Wanda D. Foglia, Jean E. Giles, and Michael E. Antonio (2006). "The Decision Maker Matters: An Empirical Examination of the Way the Role of the Judge and the Jury Influence Death Penalty Decision-Making." 63 Washington and Lee Law Review 931.

● Maggard, Scott R., Brian K. Payne, and Allison T. Chappell (2011). “Attitudes towards capital punishment: Educational, demographic, and neighborhood crime influences.” 49 The Social Science Journal 155-66.

Acknowledgements

● William Durham and Center for Death Penalty Litigation

● Dr. Neil Vidmar of Duke University Law School● Steven Snell and Duke Social Science

Research Institute’s Survey Method Initiative● NCSSM● NCSSM Foundation● Monsanto