Editing Countersignaling (section)

{{short description|Social behaviour}}
{{refimprove|date=July 2024}}
'''Countersignaling''' is the behavior in which agents with the highest level of a given property invest less into proving it than individuals with a medium level of the same property. This concept is primarily useful for analyzing human behavior and thus relevant to [[signalling (economics)|signaling theory]] in economics, sociology and psychology.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shane |date=2019-11-12 |title=Signaling: The Language Peacocks, Gazelles, and Humans All Speak |url=https://fs.blog/signaling-countersignaling/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Farnam Street |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What Your Social Signals Reveal {{!}} Psychology Today Australia |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/after-service/202102/what-your-social-signals-reveal |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=www.psychologytoday.com |language=en-AU}}</ref>

For example, moderately wealthy individuals may conspicuously display luxury goods to signal their status, while extremely wealthy individuals might avoid such displays altogether, relying instead on subtler cues—or none at all—because their status is already well-known or inferred from other trusted sources.