A buzzword in recent years, with increasing attention, is the phenomenon of virtue signaling, especially in the age of social media. A “virtue” is a quality or trait that is deemed as moral or good. Virtue signaling is a term coined to refer to the practice or action of publicly expressing opinions for either acknowledgement or acceptance in order to demonstrate that an individual is of good or moral character. However, the term is used to suggest that the person sharing their point of view has an ulterior motive to look good to others or appear virtuous, as opposed to genuinely believing in the cause, concept, or idea they claim to support. In other words, there may be a sense of feigned morality by expressing certain views to be perceived as good in the eyes of others. For instance, some corporations were accused of “corporate virtue signaling” at the height of recent social protests. Thus, virtue signaling implies that those engaging in these practices are doing so to boost their positive social image.
The question remains whether it matters that an individual or company signals virtue if it is to represent a good cause. If someone expresses their outrage about a social cause, people may wonder if it is genuine or a sign of virtue signaling. There is an assumption in the theory that people either express themselves on these topics for genuine reasons or for strategic reasons. Conversely, psychological studies have shown that even authentic expressions are innately mixed with concerns about reputation at a subconscious level. For example, research examined selfish behavior regarding the opportunity to either keep a sum of money, or to share it with someone else. Results indicate that even when people are unobserved (anonymously online with no incentive to signal their virtue), their sense of moral outrage about the scenario is influenced by a desire to be perceived in a positive light by others. In sum, people subconsciously still desire to signal their virtue even when they do so in private. As stated by psychologists, Dr. Jordan and Dr. Rand in the New York Times, people appear to implicitly ask themselves “If I were being observed, how good would I look?” Therefore, virtue signaling is not best served by debating whether people’s expressions are authentic or disingenuous, but rather acknowledging that motivation to signal one’s virtue does not necessarily equate with feigning moral self-expressions.