Do "Alpha Males" exist in the human environment the way they do among pack animals?

Question

I CAN'T HELP BUT SEE A STRONG SIMILARITY IN TRAITS IN THE HUMAN AND NATURAL WORLD.

Answer 1

~Duh.

Answer 2

An alpha male, in human terms, is sometimes called a “Natural Born Leader”.

Often the term is used to describe the leading male character in a romance novel (You know the dude the looks like Favio, who can get any woman he wants).

I could not find a good web-site that explained the concept of an alpha male. I did see a documentary once. They took a male subject, and did some experiments:

The let his hair, and beard become long and poorly kept. They dressed him in a T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. They gave him a bicycle. They asked him to speak in a timid voice. After this they studied how people reacted to him.

Next they styled his hair, trimmed his beard, dressed him nicely, and rented a BMW for him to drive. They asked him to use a very confident voice. Sure enough people treated him differently. He got better service in restaurants, etc.

The study suggests that just looking like an alpha male makes a difference.

I am no expert, but I would say the following are examples of alpha males:

George Clooney
Bruce Willis
Sean Connery
General Patton

Som beta males:

George Bush Jr.
Bill Gates

Answer 3

Just watch human males play sports or do anything competitive. There is a drive to be alpha number one. Or the competition for a female, a job, etc. Just look at Arnold. Why would a person be driven to develop the biggest muscles? There is a strong survival instinct to be an alpha male. Fathers push it on their sons. In the animal world it serves a purpose to preserve the species, in the human world it gets out of hand because of ego inflation and does not help the group to survive but actually can annilate us all.

Answer 4

You are right about seeing a slight similarity between us and pack animals. We as a society do have what you call "Alpha Males." that protect their families. We also have alpha females as well and so do pack animals. In a way it's sort of an instinct that we have obtained from our ancestors. We need a leader in order to keep us in line, be there for us when we need them, and make us feel like a part of society. I hope this helps. :-)

Answer 5

Of course, they do. In any organization, aside from the artificial hierarchy established by an official chain of command it is a natural tendenct to to establish a more natural pecking order. (By the way, the term "Alpha" also applies to females in some species.) In modern humans the gender becomes less important when a strong willed female influences`

Answer 6

Yes; if you haven't noticed the system of government really don't stop 'alpha male' mentality. In communism they rise, and in capitalism they rise (or atleast they attempt to).

I don't know if you can go in a forum in the whole of the internet that doesn't display atleast two individuals trying to gain dominance. It would be really hard to have wars if that didn't exist...but someone always has to beat their chest.

Answer 7

absolutely.....no doubt about it.
Anyone who has a man that is at all "manly"
knows this. and even men who seem passive have their ways of picking women who they are compatible with and can somehow continue to be the BIG DOGS.
Not necessarily a bad thing either, if not taken too far. If we women admit it, it is nice to be taken care of and protected while being treated as equal adult partners. It's a constant dance, and often enjoyable. but not always.
As women, I try to see the differences in men and women and not get too freaked out by them. I still remember some lines from "men are from mars and Women are from Venus" One is that men are like rubber bands and women are like waves.
(get the book cause that's all i remember.)
We are different, but at least we don't get bored.

Answer 8

The males who believe they are 'Alpha Males' are confused. I would hope, at least, that human beings were a little bit more evolved than that.

Answer 9

Yes. My husband is an Alpha male. It's really annoying!

Answer 10

Yes. They absolutely do. And I think it is a trait that is passed down or even taught. For instance, in a lot of families of leaders their offspring also become leaders or sucessful in their fields whatever they may be.

Answer 11

I believe so. There are those amoung us who lead and those who do not. that would appear to a sign of an alpha male or female if you will