But Are They Really “Alphas”?

In ethology — the study of animal behavior — the term “alpha” refers to an individual with the highest rank in a social group.

Benefits of being the alpha often include, but are not limited to …

Getting first dibs on food

Getting first dibs on (or exclusive rights to) sex and sexual partners

Getting groomed by other members of the group

Achieving alpha status often depends on physical prowess: the biggest, strongest member of a group typically claims the alpha title; and he or she may need to physically dominate — or even kill — potential rivals in order to secure that claim.

“In primates, the alpha male is the one who can literally beat up every other male. So the position depends entirely on physical violence.”

That’s primatologist and Harvard professor Richard W. Wrangham, who is an expert on the “alpha” phenomenon.

I know he was the perfect person to talk to because when I originally reached out to a paleoanthropologist at UC Berkeley, he told me “No, no, no: I’m not the right person to talk to. You need a primatologist. You need to talk to Richard Wrangham.”

And according to Wrangham (who as a grad student studied under Jane Goodall, FYI), referring to humans as “alphas” is a bit misleading.

“Human alphas are different. We call men (mostly) and women (occasionally) alphas mostly on the basis of other traits such as confidence, ability to persuade, pushiness, ability to command attention, etc.”

So when describing ourselves, we humans assign an entirely different meaning to the term “alpha.”

In nature, an alpha needs to be able to physically dominate all of his or her potential rivals. But with humans, we only need to be able to socially dominate our rivals.

My CEO, for example, could be considered the alpha of the company I work at. But if I wanted to take over his alpha role, I couldn’t just beat him up and claim it by force. (I’ve checked with HR, they said that would be a “seriously bad idea.”)

Instead, if you’re trying to oust and replace a CEO, it’s going to require social maneuvering and politicizing — not physical violence.

More on that later.

But first, what’s the other key difference between true, naturally occurring alphas and “human alphas”?

We humans usually don’t belong to a single social group. We belong to several.

Here’s Wrangham:

“In primates there is almost always just a single dominance hierarchy, i.e. the one based on violence. But in humans a single group can have multiple hierarchies, such as those based on skill in sports, scholarship, social skills, etc.”

In other words, when it comes to humans, our social status depends on the specific social situation we find ourselves in.

There isn’t just one ladder we can climb (e.g., “the corporate ladder”). Instead, there are hundreds, thousands, millions of ladders to choose from.

A CEO is a revered figure in the world of business. Arguably, he or she sits atop the highest rung of the corporate ladder.

But throw that same CEO into a biker gang or a tribe of cannibals and that “alpha” status isn’t likely to carry over.

You could be a cunning strategist with an IQ of 180. A born leader. A smooth talker. But all of that would mean jack squat in the world of competitive arm wrestling.

In that particular social circle, the so-called “alpha” is likely going to be the dude (or dudette) with the biggest biceps.

The opposite is also true: You could be the strongest, meanest, most aggressive person on the entire planet. But in the world of competitive chess, those attributes aren’t going to help you.

What this all points to, of course, is that our pop culture understanding of alphas is seriously flawed.

So the next time you see a men’s magazine describing alphas like this …

They’re cool. They’re confident. They walk into a room, and everybody stops and notices. When they speak, other guys listen. Guys want to hang out with them. Women want to go out with them.

… make sure you have your bullshit detectors on.

A single, all-encompassing definition of “alpha” can’t — and doesn’t — exist for humans. We’re too socially complex. We roll in too many circles. And the skills and physical attributes we value vary from person to person and from group to group.

While in many circles being attractive and strong and socially dominant can help you achieve a higher status, that’s not true for all circles.

Theoretical physicists don’t care how much you can bench, bro.

Just like the bros at the gym don’t care how much you know about black hole thermodynamics, nerd.

The bottom line: There are no human alphas, just humans who excel and/or assume leadership roles in specific disciplines.