I tried a few times to question the reputation system here myself or ask if there are some posts or studies showing that such systems do subdue trolling but not at the price of truth and honesty, that reputation systems do not cause unjustified conformity. Sadly the response is often downvotes mixed with angry replies.

It would be nice if there were more studies about reputation systems. I think the anti-spam capability is pretty obvious, though.

We will be seeing more reputation systems in the future - it is pretty good that this site is trying one out, IMHO.

Is the group-think here worse than it was on OB or SL4? Not obviously. IMO, the group think (which, incidentally, I would agree is a systematic problem) is mostly down to the groupies, not the karma system.