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Yes, they understand the value of social signaling. Probably not explicitly, but in a much more valuable fashion - their intuition that they should Be A Good Person is so strong that modeling the likely physical efficacy of their behavior doesn't even register as the kind of thing that a Good Person would do. Sure, it's obviously true that wearing a mask as you walk twenty feet from the door to the bar isn't going to keep anyone safe from anything, but refusing to do so signals that you're the kind of outsider that won't just do the right thing.
And perhaps this is the problem about reading up on the green grocer and understanding how that seeds totalitarians. I in good conscience will refuse to do what a Good Person would do because a Good Person will often do terrible things if only because it is expected of them.
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This is I think correct. Being in good standing with your community is extremely valuable and the way you do this day to day is following the norms and expected behaviors. Whether the norms or expected behaviors actually do anything else is besides the point. Indeed the more restrictive they are, the more valuable thay are as a signal.
You can call it performative, but the whole point is that there is indeed an audience.
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