Retributivism and Utilitarianism Differentially Predict Punishment Judgments for Crimes

Judgments about punishing criminal offenders can be motivated by retributive (deservingness) or utilitarian (social welfare) moral concerns. Using both implicit and explicit measures of punishment motivations, we found (N = 298) that endorsement of the two philosophies differentially predicted sentencing severity for twelve crimes, including victim-based and victimless crimes.