Synonyms
Definition
The infliction of a penalty in retribution for an offence.
Introduction
Punishment is a human universal, and it is also found among many social animals. It applies to all social relationships but may take on different forms and fulfill different functions depending on whether it is applied to children, inferiors, or peers, for example. Here, we consider the adaptive value of punishment, and why specific kinds of punishment may have evolved.
Competing theories attempt to explain the cross-cultural propensity to punish. Punishment may confer reduced fitness, such as when the punishment reduces the social status, or the somatic health of the recipient, such that it negatively affects the recipient’s number of offspring. In general, punishment is imposed because the recipient will not cooperate; he behaves in a manner that is costly to the punisher but beneficial, at least in the short term, to the recipient. The...
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Dutton, E., Madison, G. (2019). Evolution of Punishment. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1229-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1229-1
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