Objectives

Public punitiveness is closely related to the expansion of the US penal system. Prior studies have examined inaccurate crime trend perceptions and negative emotions as key predictors of punitive attitudes. However, the interconnections between crime trend perceptions, negative emotions, and punitive attitudes have not been explored. It is yet unknown if exposure to accurate crime trend information reduces negative emotions and public punitiveness.

Methods

I analyzed data from a survey-based experiment with a nationwide sample (N = 441) using conditional process analysis.

Results

Perceptions of rising crime trends were related to punitiveness both directly and indirectly through anger about crime. Exposure to accurate crime information did not alleviate anger about or fear of crime, but, surprisingly, increased support for punitive criminal justice policies.

Conclusions

The study highlights the importance of understanding the expressive and emotional elements of punishment and the possible positive effect of providing people with accurate crime information on punitiveness.

中文翻译：

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犯罪趋势感知，负面情绪和公众惩罚：信息处理的调查实验

目标

公众惩罚与美国刑法制度的扩展密切相关。先前的研究已经将不准确的犯罪趋势感知和负面情绪视为惩罚态度的关键预测因素。但是，犯罪趋势的看法，消极情绪和惩罚态度之间的联系尚未探索。接触准确的犯罪趋势信息是否会减少负面情绪和公众惩罚尚不明确。

方法

我 使用条件过程分析对来自全国范围样本（N = 441）的基于调查的实验的数据进行了分析。

结果

犯罪趋势上升的感知与惩罚性直接或间接地通过对犯罪的愤怒相关联。接触准确的犯罪信息并不能减轻对犯罪的愤怒或恐惧，但令人惊讶的是，对惩罚性刑事司法政策的支持增加了。

结论

这项研究强调了理解惩罚的表达和情感因素的重要性，以及向人们提供关于惩罚的准确犯罪信息的可能的积极作用。