vicarious punishment

noun

A type of social learning in which a person is dissuaded from committing a certain act, as a result of seeing others punished for the same action.

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Meanings

nounvicarious punishment (countable and uncountable, plural vicarious punishments)

plural vicarious punishments

  1. countableuncountablehuman sciencesA type of social learning in which a person is dissuaded from committing a certain act, as a result of seeing others punished for the same action.
Cite this entry
APA

vicarious punishment. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vicarious%20punishment

MLA

“vicarious punishment.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vicarious%20punishment. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vicarious punishment,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vicarious%20punishment.

Source: vicarious punishment on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.