I rather explicitly avoid disputing this. There are times when slouching signals high status. There are times when it signals low status. There are times when it signals nothing. The original poster’s claim was that standing up straight signals low status; this claim was made in an unqualified way. Since there are many cases where this is false, his claim is incorrect. In particular, the fact that people often reflect their status in their posture—i.e. people who are presently successful/high-status reflect that by standing up straight and taking up more space—is a serious problem for the original poster’s claim. The fact that cases exist where slouching signals status is largely irrelevant; the original poster’s claim was that standing up straight is principally a sign of low status. This is false, because it is also (indeed, I would argue, normally) a signal of high status.
I rather explicitly avoid disputing this. There are times when slouching signals high status. There are times when it signals low status. There are times when it signals nothing. The original poster’s claim was that standing up straight signals low status; this claim was made in an unqualified way. Since there are many cases where this is false, his claim is incorrect. In particular, the fact that people often reflect their status in their posture—i.e. people who are presently successful/high-status reflect that by standing up straight and taking up more space—is a serious problem for the original poster’s claim. The fact that cases exist where slouching signals status is largely irrelevant; the original poster’s claim was that standing up straight is principally a sign of low status. This is false, because it is also (indeed, I would argue, normally) a signal of high status.