Interpretation: People with high scores on the Pro-Death Penalty Just & Moral belief system favor an 'eye-for-an-eye' notion of justice. They find executions distasteful but necessary; they are not bothered that executions are sometimes painful. (This opinion is one measure of actual sadism.) They feel the Bible supports the death penalty and have no moral concerns about executing murderers. They tend to feel that some people are born evil rather than shaped by abusive life experiences. They believe executions help families of murder victims find 'closure.'

Popularity: A majority of people in the Death Penalty Study tended to 'agree somewhat' or 'agree strongly' with the first 3 pro-death penalty opinions in the chart: (1) some people are born evil, (2) executions help families get closure, and (3) executions are distasteful but necessary.  Only a minority tended to agree with the other four pro-death penalty opinions. For a detailed explanation of the statistical analysis, click here.

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