I'm writing this post in relation to a Ted Talk. You can watch the video at this link: https://www.ted.com/talks/frans_de_waal_the_surprising_science_of_alpha_males#t-942799

This video is all about a researcher who conducted a study on alpha male chimps, and the resulting traits he found.

  1. Alpha male chimps share food with others. This reminds me of another study I saw that had been done with bonobos and chimpanzees about courtship. The study stated that researchers concluded would do well in sharing food when courting a female.
  2. Alpha male chimps have strong posture. Maintaining dominant posture is shown create almost immediate benefits in hormones and brain chemistry in humans. It will make you feel more confident immediately. It also subtly communicates to others that you are confident.
  3. Alpha male chimps console individuals that have been physically attacked or just endured some type of tragedy. This reminds me of the Autists vs borderline post where the author of the post stated it was necessary to empathize and humanize a woman. If you don't empathize, they can sense you are dehumanizing them and therefore not a real alpha.
  4. Individuals in the dominance hierarchy have higher levels of Cortisol (Stress hormone for those who don't know) the lower they are in the pecking order. Being the Alpha male is very high stress. The Alpha male has equally high cortisol to the lowest member of the dominance hierarchy. To me this resonates with the TRP message that you have to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. He who dares, wins the prize. He who never dares, never wins.
  5. The main benefit of being the alpha is access to females.
  6. The Alpha male breaks up fights between individuals. He usually will not take a side in a disagreement. If he does, it will usually be the side of the underdog, not the side of the individual he has the closest loyalty too.

I realize humans are not chimpanzees so there are differences in our social order. They are our closest animal relatives nonetheless, therefore these factors are likely quite present in our social dynamics. I'm curious to hear people's take on this.