Approaches to Punishment: Examining Stigma as a Mediator Between Empathy and Retributive and Restorative Justice Orientations

Abstract

The U.S. leads incarceration rates per capita across the globe, underscoring the need to better understand factors that influence support for punitive attitudes. Prior research has demonstrated that factors such as causal attribution style influence justice orientations, however, there is mixed evidence on the influence of cognitive factors. This study examined the relationship between empathy and restorative and retributive justice orientations, with the role of stigma as a mediator. Data were collected from an online sample of n = 421 participants who read a vignette depicting a violent-crime scenario and completed various measures. Data was analyzed through EIV regression models which produced mixed results. In the first model, there was a significant positive relationship between empathy and stigma (a = .2212, p = .0004) and stigma and retributive attitudes (b = .1399, p = .0180), but there was a negative and nonsignificant relationship between empathy and retributive orientations (c = −.1026, p = .0522). Stigma was a significant mediator in this model, ab = .0309, 95% CI [.0051, .0689]. In the second model, there was a significant and positive relationship between empathy and restorative orientations (c = .2028, p = .0002), but no statistically significant correlation between stigma and restorative orientations (b = -.0158, p = .7631). Stigma was not a significant mediator in this model, ab= -.0037, 95% CI [-.0295, .0212]. The results suggest that greater empathy is linked to increased perceptions of stigma, which in turn are associated with stronger support for retributive attitudes—effectively offsetting empathy’s potential protective influence. Additionally, stigma did not appear to influence restorative orientations, while empathy had a direct impact. Limitations and implications are discussed.