Signaling
Etymology
Introduced as an economic concept by Michael Spence in his 1973 paper “Job Market Signaling,” for which he shared a Nobel; he argued education can signal ability even if it teaches nothing job-relevant. “Signal” is from Latin “signum,” a sign or mark.
noun · /SIG-nul-ing/
Taking a costly, observable action to credibly convey hidden information about yourself to others.
What it names
A lens for reading behavior as a message — why a degree, a warranty, a peacock’s tail, or a conspicuous purchase can be worth more as proof than for what it literally does.
Example
A long unpaid internship is partly signaling: it shows you can afford to work for free.
Related idea
Its mirror image is screening, where the uninformed party designs a test or menu to make the other side reveal what they are hiding — signaling is sent by the knower, screening is set by the seeker.