Is this pretty much what gets called 'signalling' on LW? Anything you do in whole or in part to look good to people or because doing otherwise would make people think badly of you?
No, though they are related.
A signal is a costly behavior that predictably correlates with a more difficult to observe attribute. In particular, the cost of performing the behavior normally depends on the attribute(s) in question. For example, it's cheap to tell an interviewer that I'm interested in the job, and can act in a professional manner on the job. Showing up to the interview early and dressed appropriately signals that interest much more effectively, and the interviewer is far more likely to believe the actions than the words as a result. (While y...
The article can be found here. While it is not, for many of us, new ground, it is an excellent treatment, and it requires no rationalist background in order to be understood. The subject is the pernicious pull of doing the standard thing, regardless of whether or not the standard thing makes any sense, and it does us the service of giving that phenomenon a descriptive link we can share as well as an excellent name.
I hope to, after more discussion and thought, write a main post on the subject.