A REVIEW OF EARLIER STUDIES OF THE MENS REA COMPONENT INDICATES THAT, APART FROM THE RIEDEL STUDY, THERE IS LITTLE DIRECT EVIDENCE ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NONPHYSICAL ASPECTS OF THE OFFENSE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SEVERITY SCALE. THIS STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO REEXAMINE THE RELEVANCE OF THE MENTAL ELEMENT IN THE PERCEIVED SERIOUSNESS OF OFFENSES. UNLIKE RIEDEL'S, THIS STUDY EMPHASIZED THE LEGAL COMPONENTS OF THE OFFENSE ITSELF, DIFFERENTIATING NOT ONLY BETWEEN THE MENTAL AND THE PHYSICAL ELEMENTS, BUT ALSO BETWEEN THE VARIOUS GRADATIONS OF THE MENTAL ELEMENT. THE FOUR LEVELS OF THE MENTAL STATE OF WHICH CRIMINAL LAW TAKES COGNIZANCE ARE DESCRIBED. THE STUDY UTILIZED A QUESTIONNAIRE OF 80 ITEMS, WHICH INCLUDED 4 FORMULATIONS OF THE OFFENSE EACH WITH A MENTAL ELEMENT OF DIFFERENT GRAVITY. THE OFFENSES USED WERE WOUNDING, HOMICIDE, ARSON, AND THE SALE OF ADULTERATED GOODS. RESPONDENTS WERE 91 STUDENTS ATTENDING COURSES IN THE SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENT AT TEMPLE UNIVERSITY. THREE HYPOTHESES WERE TESTED. THE FIRST WAS THAT RESPONDENTS WOULD ATTRIBUTE GREATER SERIOUSNESS TO PROHIBITED ACTS COMMITTED WITH A HIGHER LEVEL OF MENTAL ELEMENT THAN TO THE SAME ACTS COMMITTED WITH A LOWER LEVEL OF MENTAL ELEMENT. THE SECOND WAS THAT, WHERE NO MENTAL ELEMENT WAS SPECIFIED IN THE OFFENSE FORMULATION, RESPONDENTS WOULD ATTRIBUTE INTENTIONALITY. THE THIRD WAS THAT THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE PHYSICAL ACT CONSTITUTES AN INDEPENDENT COMPONENT IN THE JUDGMENT OF OFFENSE SERIOUSNESS. FINDINGS SHOWED THAT THE FORM OF MENTAL ELEMENT ACCOMPANYING THE OFFENSE HAS A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE ESTIMATION OF OFFENSE SERIOUSNESS, THAT WHERE NO MENTAL ELEMENT IS SPECIFIED RESPONDENTS GENERALLY ATTRIBUTE INTENTIONALITY TO THE PERPETRATOR OF THE OFFENSE, AND THE DEGREE OF HARM INFLICTED HAS A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE ESTIMATION OF OFFENSE SERIOUSNESS. NOTES AND APPROXIMATELY 15 REFERENCES AND TABLES ARE PROVIDED.