THE DATA FOR THE ANALYSIS WERE GATHERED IN 1973-74 FROM A RANDOMLY SELECTED SAMPLE OF RESIDENTS IN CHESAPEAKE, NORFOLK, PORTSMOUTH, AND VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. MAJOR VARIABLES CONSIDERED INCLUDE DOGMATISM, SUPPORT FOR FUNDAMENTAL CIVIL LIBERTIES, UTILITARIAN SENTIMENTS WITH REGARD TO PUNISHMENT, RETRIBUTIVE SENTIMENTS, AND SUPPORT FOR CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. THE ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT A RELATIVELY LARGE PROPORTION OF THE VARIANCE IN ATTITUDES TOWARD CAPITAL PUNISHMENT CAN BE EXPLAINED BY THE VARIABLES CONSIDERED. UTILITARIAN AND RETRIBUTIVE SENTIMENTS (INDICATORS OF SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES) WERE MORE INFLUENTIAL THAN DOGMATISM AND ATTITUDES TOWARD CIVIL LIBERTIES. NEARLY 80 PERCENT OF THE EXPLAINED VARIANCE IN SUPPORT OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT COULD HAVE BEEN ACCOUNTED FOR BY THE MEASURE OF PERCEIVED UTILITY OF PUNISHMENT ALONE. IMPLICATIONS ARE NOTED. A COPY OF THE SURVEY INSTRUMENT, TABULAR DATA, AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED.