College-Educated Religious Conservatives’ Support for Capital Punishment

Abstract Higher education is associated with reduced support for capital punishment among white Americans. Conservative religion, however, is associated with moral foundations and schemas that lead to greater support for capital punishment, which we expect moderate the association between education and views of capital punishment. Using nationally representative survey data, we found that the negative association between higher education and support for the death penalty was attenuated for white religious conservatives. This finding did not apply to nonwhite Americans. We conclude with a discussion of how the moral worldview associated with conservative religion may affect the future of capital punishment, by addressing how the association between higher education and views of capital punishment is contingent on other individual and contextual factors, and by situating the results within the contemporary American context that is characterized by political polarization and the decline of religion.