Understanding collective punishment: A systematic review from a social psychology perspective

This systematic review explores the antecedents and consequences of collective punishment, a complex social psychological phenomenon wherein entire groups are punished for the actions of a few. Analyzing 47 studies across 24 articles, the findings of the systematic review revealed that outgroup entitativity, the structure and the decision-making processes of the transgressing outgroup, and individual-level variables such as emotions were antecedents of the collective punishment, and ingroup identification, perceived outgroup fairness, attitudes toward outgroup and ingroup cooperation were consequences of the collective punishment. Moreover, results highlighted that the conceptualization of collective punishment in social psychology was blatantly different from behavioural economics and other disciplines. The review emphasizes significant gaps in the literature, particularly the lack of studies on non-WEIRD populations and the limited focus on children and adolescents. By synthesizing existing research, this work provides a foundation for future studies to address these gaps and offers critical insights into the psychological mechanisms underpinning collective punishment.