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Counter-signaling bleg
I am looking for some salient examples of counter-signaling. The classic case is the rich man who dresses like a bum - he has no one he needs to please. Casual dress signals the very high level of his status and his absence of a boss. Of course this equilibrium is not always mimic-proof (e.g., virtually anyone can dress like a bum). This strategy works for the rich if only they have some other means of causing people to think they are very high-quality.
Top nerd programmers often don't wear ties. Truly beautiful women might deliberately dress down. Can you think of other plausible examples? Does counter-signaling work best when a person has already built up a mystique? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer...
Addendum: Here is my previous post on counter-signaling.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on July 18, 2006 at 02:45 AM in Economics | Permalink
Comments
I knew a Merrill-Lynch heir who drove a Checker.
Posted by: Dave Meleney at Jul 18, 2006 2:57:39 AM
The more energy a person puts into his uniform, the more useless he is.
Posted by: aaron at Jul 18, 2006 3:05:13 AM
The use of titles. Mid level executives are more likely to use their titles, e.g. on business cards, than more senior execs. Two examples -- I once worked at a small partnership. While most partners had the title 'Partner' after their name, the most senior did not, they had only thier name and the company name, just like the more junior, untitled staff. I once saw teh business card of a White House Chief of staff (I think it was Donald Regan) who likewise had only his name on the card.
Posted by: anon at Jul 18, 2006 3:57:24 AM
Top poker players will sometimes not look at their cards, and announce it to the table, if they believe they can outplay the other players just on reads.
Top NBA players (Allen Iverson) does a pretty good job of sending the "I'm that much better than you" signal by not attending practice.
Posted by: Joel W at Jul 18, 2006 4:09:21 AM
The British army. The top general wears an old sweater, the ones below him their regulation uniforms complete with scrambled eggs and fruit salad.
Posted by: Lars Smith at Jul 18, 2006 4:22:09 AM
Gen. Douglas MacArthur also dressed pretty shabbily during the peak of
his career. I would imagine that he did so for the same reasons as the boss
in your example. "I'm so good, I don't have to dress up."
Posted by: Student at Jul 18, 2006 4:29:54 AM
MacArthur was famous for never wearing any of his other medals except his stars. He was the most decorated soldier ever.
Bill Gates/Steve Jobs with their dress code...
i know a guy who drives around in ferarri, but almost always with flip flop and shorts and the cheapest Nokia phone. it's not until he get back to his car you realise that the ferarri shirt he's wearing is a real one.
Posted by: treespotter at Jul 18, 2006 4:32:47 AM
A Ferrari shirt? Totally naf.
Posted by: Lars Smith at Jul 18, 2006 4:38:44 AM
Scientists/engineers who are technically saavy & sophisticated who use small paper diaries/calenders rather than a PDA.
Posted by: Bio XX at Jul 18, 2006 4:43:10 AM
truly intelligent people do not brag or beat you in the head with
how much they are worth, but know that their achievements speak for
themselves.
I would not say this is counter-signalling, just no need to signal,
since the extreme value can be checked. Unlike a not-already accomplished
person, who needs to distinguish him/herself from the rest of
the crowd by signalling, somebody already at the top has a palpable
measure of his worth, which could be used if necessary, but it does not
need to be used. It does not need to be used because those who should be
aware of the value of the achievements are already aware.
Posted by: avm at Jul 18, 2006 5:10:27 AM
When I used to work in a corporate hq and we would visit, say, a regional office, I would dress down somewhat. Also, if we drove with a private car, we made sure it what was not showy.
I currently work in an organization that has its share of consultants running around in the building. They might want to consider counter signalling, as they stand-out by there dress alone. I realize that they have to abide by a dress code, but they might want to consider a more flexible one, one that allows them to adjust to their client and the project they are on.
Posted by: Martin at Jul 18, 2006 5:35:58 AM
Signaling itself is a counter signal, indicating the need to signal.
Posted by: aaron at Jul 18, 2006 5:38:21 AM
The seduction game, in which oftentimes a man needs to signal disinterest to the woman in order to get her to reveal that she might be interested, and in which signaling interest all too often leads to the woman losing interest in the man (the example also works if you replace "man" by "woman" above and vice versa).
The same thing occurs in politics, where often the candidate who seems the most reluctant to acquire power is the one that the people will want to elect most, precisely because he is not in solely because he wants power.
Posted by: Marc at Jul 18, 2006 6:10:00 AM
You need to read the book Class by Paul Fussell. Many of the class signals of the upper class are opposite of the class signals of the upper middle class.
Posted by: Half Sigma at Jul 18, 2006 6:30:46 AM
Smart people that use simple words rather than big words that convey the same message.
Posted by: Mo at Jul 18, 2006 6:41:18 AM
A famous case of a rich man's sartorial counter-signaling:
John Walton, the saintly and deceased Wal-mart scion, used to wear blue jeans almost everywhere. As a prominent philanthropist with an interest in doing the hard work of improving education, he was constantly being feted. Many of his supplicants would throw him galas for which he would arrive vastly underdressed. He would have to go to the nearest Wal-mart and buy a sports jacket! (Rumor had it he had the world's largest collection of W-m jackets...)
Posted by: c at Jul 18, 2006 7:13:51 AM
Amongst Western democracies it seems France is the only one that has big military parades.
The Emirates Economist: File under: All right to show your stuff as long as you are known to be impotent
Posted by: John B. Chilton at Jul 18, 2006 7:49:50 AM
Well, there's the old rule that when you're giving a talk, a self-deprecating preface is only OK once you're eminent enough that it will be taken as good-natured humility rather than an accurate assessment of your contribution.
Posted by: Julian Sanchez at Jul 18, 2006 7:50:08 AM
A few less obvious ones:
For a management consultant or an investment banker, being fit is generally a good signal. Very prominent ones, though, are often not in a very good shape (e.g., Bruce Wasserstein).
Many top mathematicians do not present (or even write down) proofs very formally or carefully. Being excessively formal is often a sign that the contribution isn't that great. I think it is less clear-cut in economics, where many not-so-top people are also very informal simply because they can't write formal proofs, but the effect is probably present as well.
Google founders drive cheap cars (Priuses) and live in apartments.
However, for all these examples (including dress code etc.) I do not see a clear empirical strategy for distinguishing between countersignaling (i.e., Bill Gates would dress up more formally in the absence of signalling effects) and simply having no or very little need for signaling since you are already very good (i.e., Bill Gates would dress up in exactly the same way or even less formally in the absence of signaling effects).
I do suspect, though, that Google founders, being red-blooded young males, would drive much more expensive and fun cars in the absence of signaling. Buying a house might simply be too much hassle for them, but buying a Porsche takes very little time.
Posted by: no at Jul 18, 2006 8:29:21 AM
Actually, almost every programmer who can get away with it eschews ties and fancy dress. It's part of the culture of programming. In fact, Silicon Valley culture is one of mass reverse-signalling. Respect in programming circles is nearly entirely around reputation and achievement, not traditional status symbols (at least at the office--the cars are frequently pretty nice, as are the gadgets and male-toys, like big screen TVs).
Wearing a suit is seen as admitting you're merely a management type and hence clueless as to technology. Bankers in Silicon valley took to dressing down when visiting tech firms in order to be taken seriously by the geek set.
Posted by: Sandy Smith at Jul 18, 2006 8:32:07 AM
An example from the world of mountain bike racing: the bike you ride. As racers progress through the ranks from beginner to sport to expert/pro, the value of the bike you use generally increases. However, very strong and experienced riders often seem then to graduate from a $7000 masterpiece (seriously: http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?sid=06SWorksMTB) to a heavy, fully rigid (no suspension), single speed (1 gear, not 27) bike.
Posted by: Mike Berry at Jul 18, 2006 8:42:55 AM
Harvard graduates who, when asked where they went to school, say "Up in Boston."
Posted by: Will Wilkinson at Jul 18, 2006 9:08:03 AM
I once came upon a very high class restaurant in the Berkshires that was in an old house. The sign outside was very small, and the parking almost nonexistant. Unfortunately, it is long gone. Not that it wasn't a success, but that keeping a secret like that requires occassional moves.
Another case is the Salt Lick BBQ outside Austin TX. It isn't really easy to find, and the sign, again, is small (on the order of a foot square).
Posted by: Paul McMahon at Jul 18, 2006 9:10:41 AM
Quantitative people in medical settings dress down because they want it known that they are doing it on horsepower, not credentials. (Also, the salary differential means that they couldn't compete with the docs on clothes if they tried.) However, I once attended a talk by an almost-famous biostatistician who showed up in cutoff jeans and a tee shirt. It was very clear that he was overdoing the signal, thus disclosing a need to signal. By the way, he is no longer even almost-famous.
Posted by: Bill Gardner at Jul 18, 2006 9:20:54 AM
Bad hand-writing.
Posted by: Yesim at Jul 18, 2006 9:21:57 AM
