The term alpha male has been used to describe human behavior for generations. Many believe that the term 'Alpha Male' stems from animal species like wolves and apes. However, science says things aren't what they seem.
Monika Sumra, an anthropologist diving into the history of the term 'Alpha Male,' found that the term was first used academically in 1921. During research on chicken hierarchies or pecking order, researchers labeled the top chicken with the first letter in the Greek Alphabet "Alpha." Today, we unravel how much of the 'Alpha' behavior exists in the animal kingdom, and is it applicable to humans?
Alpha Males in Wolves
Alpha males have been strongly related by many, especially in pop culture, to wolves and wild canines, perhaps due to their pack system. However, contrary to popular belief, alpha males are non-existent in wild canines.
On the other hand, for generations, scientists used to believe that Alpha males were proliferated in wild dogs. In a publication by scientist Rudolph Schenkel in 1948, he wrote that in wolves, alpha pairs would duke it out in a bid for dominance, where the winner grabs exclusive rights to mate among the group. The idea was also echoed by wolf researcher Dave Mech in a 1968 book.
According to Discover Magazine, Mech later realized that his publications regarding the "alpha wolf" behavior were only applicable to captive wolves pushed together in a group from a wide range of various backgrounds.
In its natural habitat, a pack starts with a singular pair of male and female wolves that have offsprings. In this setting, the parents are naturally dominant over the pack. Since this realization of the truth behind the wolf pack, dynamic Mech has been trying to urge publishers to cease printing the book to no avail.
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Primate Alpha Males
Despite debunking the alpha male in wolves, the alpha male behavior is a real contempt in some primates. Kathy Jack, a primate behavioral ecologist from Tulane University, studying alpha male behaviors in Capuchin monkeys, says that it would be fairly easy to pick out the alpha male in a group of Capuchin monkeys for anyone.
The male in the group of Capuchins that eats first, whom other monkeys move out of the way for, and lies down for grooming and instantly gets cleaned by others are the marks of the group's alpha male.
Where in some groups, dominance stems from biological changes. Capuchin alpha males normally grow to be the largest in the group. Once a male becomes the alpha, his testosterone levels begin to rise, and his testicles grow large, according to a study published in the journal Hormones and Behavior, entitled "Changes in the Secondary Sexual Adornments of Male Mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) Are Associated with Gain and Loss of Alpha Status."
Human 'Alpha Male' Behavior
Some manifestations of alpha male behavior in humans might stem from primate attributes. However, using the term as an attribute of relatives to justify the existence of the trait in humans is a debacle. Unlike what many purports, the alpha male isn't an inherent quality. It's an earned status in primates throughout its life, normally after ousting the current male in power or after the existing alpha male dies.
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