Cover-ups of unethical actions are undesirable and often costly. However, existing theory is unclear on when and why some cover-ups are punished less severely by in-group third parties compared to out-group third parties. Drawing on theories of attribution and social identity, we theorize that the punishment of cover-ups by in- and out-group third parties depends on the type of cover-up: specifically, whether individuals conceal their own unethical transgressions (personal cover-ups) or the unethical transgressions of another individual (relational cover-ups). By highlighting this distinction, we hypothesize and find across three studies that in-group third parties punish relational—but not personal—cover-ups less severely than out-group third parties. Moreover, we theorize and find support for the mediating role of perceptions of group loyalty. Our theory and results reveal the ways in which different forms of cover-ups can escape severe punishment, and offer important theoretical contributions for research on unethical behavior, social identity, and loyalty.

中文翻译：

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了解何时以及为何对掩盖行为的惩罚较轻

掩盖不道德行为是不可取的，而且往往代价高昂。然而，现有理论尚不清楚何时以及为何与组外第三方相比，组内第三方对某些掩盖行为的惩罚较轻。借鉴归因理论和社会认同理论，我们推论出，群体内和群体外第三方对掩盖行为的惩罚取决于掩盖的类型：具体而言，个人是否隐瞒了自己的不道德违法行为（个人掩盖行为） ) 或另一个人的不道德违法行为（关系掩盖）。通过强调这一区别，我们假设并在三项研究中发现，与外部第三方相比，组内第三方对关系（而非个人）掩盖行为的惩罚力度较小。此外，我们对群体忠诚感知的中介作用进行了理论分析并找到了支持。