I think it is worth preserving a distinction between the specific kind of signaling Patrick describes and a weaker definition, because “true signaling” explains a specific phenomenon: in equilibrium, there seems to be too much effort expended on something, but everyone is acting in their own best interest. “High-quality” people do something to prove they are high quality, and “low-quality” people imitate this behavior. If education is a signal, people seem to get “too much” education for what their jobs require.
As in an exam problem I recently heard about: Female bullfrogs prefer large male bullfrogs. Large bullfrogs croak louder. In the dark, small bullfrogs croak loudly to appear large. To signal that they are the true large frogs, large ones croak even louder. When everyone is croaking as loudly as they can, croaking quietly makes a frog look incapable of croaking loudly and therefore small. Result: swamps are really noisy at night.
Or, according to this paper, people “expect a high-quality firm to undertake ambitious investments”. Investment is a signal of quality: low-quality firms invest more ambitiously to look high-quality. Then high-quality firms invest more to prove they are the true high-quality firms. Result: firms over-invest.
In this sense, you can also signal that you are serious about a friendship, job, or significant other, but only where your resources are limited. An expensive engagement ring is a good signal of your seriousness—hence, expensive diamond engagement rings instead cubic zirconium. Or, applying to college and sending a video of yourself singing the college’s fight song is a good signal that you will attend if admitted, and writing a gushing essay is a cheap imitation signal of that devotion. Hence, high school seniors look like they spend way too much effort telling colleges how devoted they are.
So you might use signaling to explain why “too many” people get “useless” degrees studying classics, or why swamps are “too loud”, or engagement rings are “too expensive”. I don’t think it’s true that too many people pretend to be Republicans, or too many birthday cards or sent.
I think it is worth preserving a distinction between the specific kind of signaling Patrick describes and a weaker definition, because “true signaling” explains a specific phenomenon: in equilibrium, there seems to be too much effort expended on something, but everyone is acting in their own best interest. “High-quality” people do something to prove they are high quality, and “low-quality” people imitate this behavior. If education is a signal, people seem to get “too much” education for what their jobs require.
As in an exam problem I recently heard about: Female bullfrogs prefer large male bullfrogs. Large bullfrogs croak louder. In the dark, small bullfrogs croak loudly to appear large. To signal that they are the true large frogs, large ones croak even louder. When everyone is croaking as loudly as they can, croaking quietly makes a frog look incapable of croaking loudly and therefore small. Result: swamps are really noisy at night.
Or, according to this paper, people “expect a high-quality firm to undertake ambitious investments”. Investment is a signal of quality: low-quality firms invest more ambitiously to look high-quality. Then high-quality firms invest more to prove they are the true high-quality firms. Result: firms over-invest.
In this sense, you can also signal that you are serious about a friendship, job, or significant other, but only where your resources are limited. An expensive engagement ring is a good signal of your seriousness—hence, expensive diamond engagement rings instead cubic zirconium. Or, applying to college and sending a video of yourself singing the college’s fight song is a good signal that you will attend if admitted, and writing a gushing essay is a cheap imitation signal of that devotion. Hence, high school seniors look like they spend way too much effort telling colleges how devoted they are.
So you might use signaling to explain why “too many” people get “useless” degrees studying classics, or why swamps are “too loud”, or engagement rings are “too expensive”. I don’t think it’s true that too many people pretend to be Republicans, or too many birthday cards or sent.
What Patrick refers to is called costly signaling in evolutionary psychology, and I believe in general.