Attitudes towards crime, compassion and revenge among prisoners and university students: A comparative and mediation study

Abstract Objectives This study examined attitudes towards crime, compassion and revenge among prisoners and university students and tested whether compassion mediates the relationship between revenge and attitudes towards crime. Design A comparative cross‐sectional design was employed. Methods The participants comprised 200 prisoners and 209 university students ( N = 409). Data were collected using a Personal Information Form, the Criminal Attitudes and Associates Scale, the Lovingkindness–Compassion Scale and the Vengeance Scale. Independent‐samples t tests, Pearson correlation analyses, hierarchical regression analysis and Monte Carlo analyses were conducted to examine group differences, associations among the study variables and the proposed mediation relationship. Results University students reported higher revenge scores than prisoners, whereas prisoners reported more favourable attitudes towards crime than university students. Compassion was negatively associated with attitudes towards crime and revenge, whereas revenge was positively associated with attitudes towards crime. Compassion partially mediated the relationship between revenge and attitudes towards crime. Conclusions The finding that university students reported higher levels of revenge, whereas prisoners reported more favourable attitudes towards crime, suggests that criminal attitudes may be shaped by a broader constellation of risk factors beyond revenge alone. The partial mediating role of compassion further suggests that compassion may buffer the translation of revenge into pro‐criminal attitudes. These findings have potential implications for understanding psychological factors associated with criminal attitudes and for developing correctional interventions.