The Association between Belief in the American Dream and Stance on Capital Punishment

by

Live Poster Session: Zoom Link

Emma Pennie
Emma Pennie

Emma is a junior at Wesleyan University, studying economics with a minor in international relations. She took this class to expand her data analysis skills, as she previously only had experience with Stata in an economics context. She is from Old Lyme, Connecticut, and is a captain of the Wesleyan rugby team.

Ignore this button 🙂

Abstract: Capital punishment is extremely controversial, with the United States being the only Western country where it is still legal. A major source of criticism is the potential for jury bias in death penalty trials. Past research has shown that extralegal factors, especially symbolic perspectives, play a significant role in the likelihood of a death penalty conviction. One symbolic perspective of interest is a person’s view of the American Dream. In my project I examined the relationship between a person’s opinion of the American Dream and their stance on capital punishment, to determine whether or not it is a potential source of jury bias. Even with multiple controls, a multivariate analysis revealed a statistically significant association.

Pennie-Poster