Signaling and status is way more complex than that. Which is unsurprising, given how important it is and has been in our evolutionary environment.
There is no universal scale of “high” and “low” status, everything is relative to the people, roles, and situation. And of course, the interpretation of various behaviors in a context changes over time as people seek to emulate or distinguish themselves from others.
If you have infinite bandwidth, you should probably develop a personal brand (or rather, a set of brands which you use in different situations or with different people). Do so based on observation of people you’d like to be associated with and distinguished from in the minds of your correspondents, and update it over time as styles (and comparison cohorts) change.
If (like me), you don’t have that kind of social-mental power, just try to match your expected audience’s expectations.
Signaling and status is way more complex than that. Which is unsurprising, given how important it is and has been in our evolutionary environment.
There is no universal scale of “high” and “low” status, everything is relative to the people, roles, and situation. And of course, the interpretation of various behaviors in a context changes over time as people seek to emulate or distinguish themselves from others.
If you have infinite bandwidth, you should probably develop a personal brand (or rather, a set of brands which you use in different situations or with different people). Do so based on observation of people you’d like to be associated with and distinguished from in the minds of your correspondents, and update it over time as styles (and comparison cohorts) change.
If (like me), you don’t have that kind of social-mental power, just try to match your expected audience’s expectations.