Virtue signalling

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Virtue signalling is the conspicuous expression of moral values by an individual done primarily to enhance their standing within a social group. The term was first used in signalling theory, to describe any behavior that could be used to signal virtue – especially piety among the religious faithful.[1] Since 2015, the term has become more commonly used as a pejorative characterization by commentators to criticize what they regard as the platitudinous, empty, or superficial support of socially progressive views on social media.[2][3] It has been used to describe analogous behavior in other groups, such as pro-gun-rights grandstanding among the American right, or within groups to criticize their own members for valuing outward appearance over substantive action.[4]

Within signalling theory[edit]

Within evolutionary biology, signalling theory is a body of theoretical work examining communication between organisms. It is concerned with honest signals. For example, a peacock's tail is an honest signal of his fitness, since a less fit peacock would only be able to produce a less spectacular tail.

Signalling theory has been applied to human behavior. Costly religious rituals such as male circumcision, food and water deprivation, and snake handling look paradoxical in evolutionary terms. Devout religious beliefs wherein such traditions are practiced therefore appear maladaptive. Religion may have arisen to increase and maintain intragroup cooperation.[5] All religions may involve costly and elaborate rituals, performed publicly, to demonstrate loyalty to the religious group.[6] In this way, group members increase their allegiance to the group by signalling their investment in group interests. Such behavior is sometimes described as "virtue signalling".[1]

Wider use[edit]

The blog LessWrong was an early user of the term for an audience not comprising signalling theorists. It alluded to the concept in February 2009[7] and later squarely expressed it July 2013:

"My upbringing and social circles are moderately left-wing. There's a well-observed failure mode in these circles, not entirely dissimilar to what's discussed in Why Our Kind Can't Cooperate, where participants sabotage cooperation by going out of their way to find things to disagree about, presumably for moral posturing and virtue-signalling reasons."[8]

In April 2015, writing in The Spectator, James Bartholomew used the term to criticize a number of targets. A journalist had shown, Bartholomew said, "liberal media-elite opinions" by interrupting Nigel Farage and "insinuating that he is racist". Bartholomew criticized both center-right politicians and people who express a dislike of tabloid newspapers. He argued that "When David Cameron defends maintaining spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign aid, he is telling us that the Tory party, or at least he himself — as a rather wonderful, non-toxic part of it — cares about the poor in the developing world. The actual effectiveness or otherwise of foreign aid in achieving this aim is irrelevant." He argued that virtue signalling is about what is said, and contrasts it with doing something genuinely virtuous, such as donating money to charity.[9] Bartholomew later claimed to have invented the phrase.[10]

Cited examples of virtue signalling towards certain issues include:[4][2]

Reception of the phrase has been mixed: Zoe Williams has described the phrase as the "sequel insult to champagne socialist",[11] while David Shariatmadari says that while the term serves a purpose, its overuse has rendered it a meaningless political buzzword.[3] Some on the left have embraced the term: Helen Lewis, writing for the New Statesman, blamed virtue signalling for Labour Party's defeat in the 2015 general election, suggesting that the desire to be seen as holding virtuous opinions leads political activists to focus on issues such as nuclear disarmament that are lofty and remote to common voters, resulting in an echo chamber effect that led Labour strategists to underestimate support for Conservative policies.[12]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Bulbulia, Joseph; Schjoedt, Uffe (2010). "Religious Culture and Cooperative Prediction under Risk: Perspectives from Social Neuroscience". Religion, Economy, and Cooperation. pp. 37–39. ISBN 3110246333. 
  2. ^ a b Pemberton, Becky (January 25, 2017). "What is virtue signalling?". The Sun. Retrieved 2017-01-27. According to the Oxford Dictionary, virtue signalling is “the action or practice of publicly expressing opinion or sentiments intended to demonstrate one’s good character or the moral correctness of one’s position on a particular issue.” 
  3. ^ a b Shariatmadari, David (January 20, 2016). "Virtue-signalling – the putdown that has passed its sell-by date". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-11. 
  4. ^ a b Peters, Mark (December 25, 2015). "Virtue signaling and other inane platitudes". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2016-04-11. 
  5. ^ Steadman, L.; Palmer, C. (2008). The Supernatural and Natural Selection: Religion and Evolutionary Success. Paradigm. 
  6. ^ Irons, W. (2001) Religion as a hard-to-fake sign of commitment, in The Evolution of Commitment, Randolph Nesse (ed.) New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 292–309.
  7. ^ Yudkowsky, Eliezer (February 17, 2009). "Cynical About Cynicism". LessWrong. 
  8. ^ sixes_and_sevens (July 30, 2013). "Comments on Open thread, July 29 – August 4, 2013". LessWrong. 
  9. ^ Bartholemew, James (April 18, 2015). "The awful rise of 'virtue signalling'". Spectator. Retrieved 2016-04-11. 
  10. ^ Bartholemew, James (October 10, 2015). "I invented 'virtue signalling'. Now it's taking over the world". Spectator. Retrieved 2016-04-11. 
  11. ^ Williams, Zoe (April 10, 2016). "Forget about Labour's heartland – it doesn't exist". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-11. 
  12. ^ Lewis, Helen (July 22, 2015). "The echo chamber of social media is luring the left into cosy delusion and dangerous insularity". New Statesman. Retrieved 2016-04-15. 
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