Are Masculine Men Alpha Males?
Do alpha males even exist? And if so, are they the bad guys? In this week's blizzard edition of Living Manly, I ask whether masculine men are also alpha male, if that even exists. Spoiler alert: Yes, alpha male tendencies are real. I'll show you that by walking you through four species of dimorphic, sexually reproducing animals (giant cuttlefish, red deer, rats, and gorillas) to learn the difference between mere dominance and actual alpha male drives.
Then I show you where humans fit on that scale. The answer? Human males can lean toward alpha behaviors, but you don't have to be very masculine to be alpha and you aren't automatically alpha if you are very masculine. Which is good news for me since I want to be very masculine but am not really alpha at all.
Learn more about how I measured alpha male tendencies and learn why for those men who are very masculine and lean alpha, our species is better off thanks to them. But if we had to pick something to encourage in our brothers and sons, it would be to choose masculinity first, which then shapes and informs the alpha male tendencies a minority of them also experience.
If you enjoy this, would you please subscribe? And add your comments and questions so I know what questions you want me to address in the future.
Resources: This week I've provided multiple links to the discussions of dominant and alpha male behavior, including in humans. This is a very rich topic area, hence the extra-long video this week. Apologies in advance if the links I include don’t answer every question you have about alpha males, I’m happy to offer more details if you need them. The three figures from the video are posted below the links and resources.
General introductions to the concept of alpha males, including some of the discussions of alpha males (do wolves, qualify, for example)":
Quick takes on basic breeding characteristics of cuttlefish, red deer, and rats. There’s much more to know here, apologies this is so brief.
The research page of Professor Katharine Jack of Tulane University, anthropologist and leader of longstanding research on capuchin monkeys.
A solid summary of gorilla alpha behavior, one of the better descriptions of how alpha gorillas are protectors and leaders of their groups.
An informative TedMed talk by a leading biologist who literally wrote the book on chimpanzee alpha behaviors.
Companion academic articles which go deeper into particulars than the more general content above:
ncG1vNJzZmiikaKytLnCqqyirpWue7TBwayrmpubY7CwuY6pZpqkoJ2ubrnApZxmpZGosLa4yKegrbE%3D