Virtue signalling

Virtue signalling is the expression or promotion of viewpoints that are especially valued within a social group, especially when this is done primarily to enhance the social standing of the speaker.[1][2][3] The term is chiefly used by commentators to criticize what they regard as the platitudinous and empty or superficial support of socially progressive views on social media,[2][3] but has also been used to describe analogous behaviour in other groups, such as pro-gun rights grandstanding among the American right,[3] and by signalling theorists to discuss conspicuous piety among the religious faithful as well as agnostics and atheists.[4]

James Bartholomew has claimed to have invented the term in The Spectator in a 2015 column,[5] but it was used in 2010 within the framework of signalling theory,[4] and at the blog LessWrong, where the idea was first alluded to in February 2009[6] and later squarely expressed in 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."[7]

Reception of the phrase has been mixed: Zoe Williams has described the phrase as the "sequel insult to champagne socialist",[8] while David Shariatmadari says that while the term serves a purpose, its overuse has rendered it a meaningless political buzzword.[2] Aaron Siering has called the use of the phrase, "an unfortunate abuse of the term virtue". Some on the left have embraced the term: Helen Lewis, writing for the New Statesman, blamed virtue signalling for Labour Party's surprise 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.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The awful rise of 'virtue signalling'". Spectator. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  2. 1 2 3 "Virtue-signalling – the putdown that has passed its sell-by date". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  3. 1 2 3 "Virtue signaling and other inane platitudes". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  4. 1 2 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.
  5. ↑ "I invented 'virtue signalling'. Now it's taking over the world". Spectator. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  6. ↑ Cynical About Cynicism - Less Wrong
  7. ↑ sixes_and_sevens comments on Open thread, July 29-August 4, 2013 - Less Wrong
  8. ↑ "Forget about Labour's heartland – it doesn't exist". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  9. ↑ Helen Lewis (22 July 2015). "The echo chamber of social media is luring the left into cosy delusion and dangerous insularity". New Statesman. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
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