I think "self-signaling" is one of the more interesting concepts to come out of behavioral economics. The idea is that some of our behaviors (especially economic behaviors) are really about telling yourself something about yourself.

https://www.daytradinglife.com/wp-content/downloads/order-sheets/Self-Signaling-and-Diagnostic-Utility-In-Everyday-Decision-Making.pdf

People have postulated that a lot of behavior might be self-signaling, things like exercise, charitable donations, purchases certain types of products, etc.

But I think there are some interesting philosophical questions lying just below the surface.

Classic "signaling" involves information asymmetry. In order for it to make any sense for me to signal something to you, it has to be the case that I know something you don't.

Under the standard economic model, you always know everything about yourself.

Of course, the standard economic model is wrong in certain ways. I don't remember what I ate for lunch a year ago. (It was probably a burrito, but I'm not sure.)

Self signaling isn't really about that kind of stuff, though. Its not signaling stuff that you happened to forget

Self signaling is more about signaling what kind of person you are to yourself. (At least, if I understand the concept right.) You might be thought to "forget" that in the standard sense, but in reality its more like you it isn't necessarily at the forefront of your mind.

So, the "signaling" is more about triggering yourself to think about something that you already know. Or, perhaps, about triggering you to think about yourself in a way that is pleasing but that that you are unsure about. (Am I really a good person?)

So this yields some interesting foundational questions: Can other-signaling be similar? Could I signal to someone else something even if they haven't forgotten it? Or is self-signaling really a different kind of signaling? (Is it even rightly thought of signaling at all?)