Relationship between Attitudes toward Criminal Justice and Economic Anxiety

Abstract

Previous studies have shown a link between economic anxiety and punitiveness. However, these studies had at least two limitations: (1) the scales used to measure economic anxiety were not validated and (2) attitudes toward criminal justice other than punitiveness were not considered. To address these limitations, this study examines the relationship between economic anxiety and attitudes toward criminal justice using a validated scale. An analysis of data from 223 Japanese adults showed that economic anxiety was related to all four subscales of the Attitudes Toward Criminal Justice Scale. Based on these findings, we believe this study contributes to existing literature by: (1) demonstrating the robustness of existing findings, indicating that economic anxiety is related to punitiveness; and (2) expanding the scope of existing findings by demonstrating that economic anxiety is related to criminal justice attitudes other than punitiveness.