Virtue signalling is a pejorative neologism for the expression of moral values. In evolutionary psychology and signaling theory, it is considered a natural behavior which may have either beneficial or detrimental effects at the collective level depending on various factors. Outside academia, it is often used pejoratively.
History
Although it has appeared in earlier religious academic works in 2011 and 2010, British journalistJames Bartholomew is often credited with originating the term "virtue signalling" in an article in The Spectator in 2015, who claimed credit for its creation in later articles. Merriam-Webster editor Emily Brewster describes virtue signalling as an academic-sounding counterpart to the term "humblebrag," a term coined by Harris Wittels in 2010. Psychologists Jillian Jordan and David Rand argue that virtue signalling is separable from true outrage towards a particular belief, but that in most cases individuals who are virtue signalling are in fact simultaneously experiencing true outrage. Linguist David Shariatmadari argues, in The Guardian, that the very act of accusing someone of virtue signalling is an act of virtue signalling in itself, and that its overuse as an ad hominem attack during political debate has rendered it a meaningless political buzzword. Zoe Williams, also writing for The Guardian, suggested the phrase was the "sequel insult to champagne socialist."
Usage
Virtue signalling rose in popularity as a pejorative term, denouncing empty acts of public commitment to unexceptional good causes. In Bartholomew's original article, he describes virtue signalling as a public act with very little associated cost that is intended to inform others of one's socially acceptable alignment on an issue.
Signalling theory
In signalling theory, the term virtue signalling is used to describe the persistence or occurrence of various costly religious practices such as circumcision, fasting, snake handling, and trial by ordeal. This idea is that the participation in an act with a religious purpose serves as a way to signal one's dedication to the beliefs held by that religion, thereby signalling personal morality to onlookers.
Social media
in her book Kill All Normies described the internet reactions to the Kony 2012viral video as "what we might now call 'virtue signaling'", and that "the usual cycles of public displays of outrage online began as expected with inevitable competitive virtue signaling" in the aftermath of the killing of Harambe. B.D. McClay wrote in The Hedgehog Review that signalling particularly flourished in online communities. It was unavoidable in digital interactions, because they lacked the qualities of offline life, such as spontaneity. When one filled out a list of one's favorite books for Facebook, one was usually aware of what that list said about oneself. Blackout Tuesday, a collective action that was intended to combat racism and police brutality that was carried out on June 2, 2020, largely by businesses and celebrities through social media in response to the killings of several black people, was criticized as a form of virtue signalling for the initiative's "lack of clarity and direction".
Marketing
In addition to persons, companies have also been accused of virtue signalling, in marketing, public relations and brand communication. Conspicuous consumption has been described as a form of consumer virtue signalling.
