To discourage or prevent someone from taking action is to what?

• A. Encourage
• B. Deter
• C. Inhibit
• D. Dissuade

Answer: (B)

Deterrence is about discouraging someone from taking an action by making the potential consequences seem costly or risky. That matches the idea of preventing action through anticipated outcomes. The other terms don’t fit as neatly: Encourage aims to promote action, not discourage. Inhibit can mean to physically or practically block something, which is more about restraint than shaping decisions through consequences. Dissuade involves persuading someone not to do something through argument or advice, but deterrence is the broader concept of discouraging action by the threat or reality of negative outcomes.