Group members are more likely to punish criticism of the ingroup when it is provided by outgroup members than by fellow ingroup members. Although this effect could reflect a response to threats to social identity, there may be a general conversational norm proscribing intergroup criticism of any kind. In this case, uninvolved bystanders should also punish individuals who criticize other groups. Past studies of these effects have largely relied on self-reports, making it unclear which theoretical account best explains punishment behaviour. Additionally, the motives underlying punishment of intergroup criticism have not been systematically investigated. Punishment could be intended to inform the commenter that such criticism is inappropriate (i.e., a consequentialist motive) or simply enact revenge (i.e., a retributionist motive). We conducted a registered experiment (N > 800) to examine whether (1) uninvolved bystanders punish intergroup criticism as much as intergroup criticism of their own group, and (2) punishment of intergroup criticism is motivated by consequentialist or retributionist motives. Results revealed more negative reactions to and greater punishment of intergroup criticism compared to intragroup criticism. These effects were actually stronger when the participant was a bystander compared with a member of the targeted group. This finding strongly supports the existence of a conversational norm proscribing intergroup criticism. Protection of social identity resulted in more negative reactions to and punishment of any criticism targeting the ingroup, independent of the source. Finally, punishment extended to situations in which the commenter did not learn of the punishment, consistent with a retributionist motive.

中文翻译：

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为什么要惩罚批评性的外群评论者？社会认同、一般规范和报应

当外群体成员提供对内群体的批评时，群体成员更有可能惩罚内群体的批评，而不是内群体成员提供的批评。尽管这种影响可能反映了对社会认同威胁的反应，但可能存在禁止任何形式的群体间批评的一般会话规范。在这种情况下，不参与的旁观者也应该惩罚批评其他群体的个人。过去对这些影响的研究在很大程度上依赖于自我报告，因此不清楚哪种理论解释最能解释惩罚行为。此外，尚未系统地调查惩罚群际批评的动机。惩罚可能旨在告知评论者此类批评是不恰当的（即后果主义动机）或只是实施报复（即报复主义动机）。ñ > 800) 来检验 (1) 未参与的旁观者是否像对自己群体的群体间批评一样惩罚群体间批评，以及 (2) 对群体间批评的惩罚是出于后果主义或报复主义动机。结果显示，与组内批评相比，对组间批评的负面反应和惩罚更大。与目标群体的成员相比，当参与者是旁观者时，这些影响实际上更强。这一发现有力地支持了禁止群体间批评的会话规范的存在。对社会身份的保护导致对针对内群体的任何批评的负面反应和惩罚，与来源无关。最后，惩罚扩展到评论者不知道惩罚的情况，