By the s, scientists were using the term alpha male to refer to the most dominant male animal in a group—like an alpha wolf, who achieves top-dog status through aggressive behavior. By the s, scientists extended alpha to human behavior, describing men who, through various forms of social power, acquire wealth, prestige, sexual partners, and other resources valued by their peers.
By the s, the sense of alpha showed some narrowing on the internet, shifting from a male who achieved success and status in general to a male who could easily get a lot of girls in bed or who liked sports and was bro-ish. The manosphere also calls these alphas bluepilled normalfags. Elsewhere in the dark, masculinist corners of the internet, soyboys and cucks , derogatory slang for effeminate men, usually perceived as liberals, were called beta male submissive, sexually weak, with beta the second letter of the Greek alphabet.
Yet others online sought out omega male role models omega being the last letter , who find success outside of conventional social hierarchies. As a description for a man, alpha became a term sometimes embraced and aspired to and other times challenged. Meanwhile in the s, alpha female emerged as a positive term for powerful, successful women, though not without intimidating plenty men.
Many dudes genuinely aspire to alpha status, following checklists and guides to achieve manliness in everything from cologne to body language. Basically, so they think they can get laid. The term is also still used ironically to mock men who wrongly think themselves to be an alpha male …. See more words from the same century. Accessed 12 Nov. English Language Learners Definition of alpha Entry 2 of 2.
See the full definition for alpha in the English Language Learners Dictionary. Britannica English: Translation of alpha for Arabic Speakers. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!
Log in Sign Up. Save Word. Definition of alpha Entry 1 of 2. Definition of alpha Entry 2 of 2. Examples of alpha in a Sentence Noun money is not the alpha and omega—the beginning and end—of life's purpose. Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective My Neighbor Alice rallied possibly due to its upcoming pre- alpha testing, where users can test the game and leave feedback.
First Known Use of alpha Noun 13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1 Adjective , in the meaning defined at sense 1. Not one woman wanted a submissive male for either a date or romance. Other low-ranked nondominant adjectives were shy 2 percent for dating; zero for romantic and quiet 4 percent for ideal; 2 for romantic.
This analysis was revealing because it suggests that dominance can take many forms. The dominant male who is demanding, violent, and self-centered is not considered attractive to most women, whereas the dominant male who is assertive and confident is considered attractive. Their results also suggest that sensitivity and assertiveness are not opposites. In fact, further research suggests that the combination of kindness and assertiveness might just be the most attractive pairing.
In other words, dominance only increased sexual attraction when the person was already high in agreeableness and altruism. Along similar lines, Jeffrey Snyder and colleagues reported that dominance was only attractive to females for both a short-term affair and a long-term relationship in the context of male-male competitions. Tellingly, women did not find men attractive who used aggressive dominance force or threat of force while competing for leadership in informal decision making among peers.
This suggests that women are attuned to cues that indicate that the male might direct his aggression toward her, with dominance toward competitors considered more attractive than dominance toward friends or coalition members. Distinguishing between the different shades of dominance, and how they interact with kindness, is not just important for understanding sexual attraction among humans.
It also has deep implications for the evolution of social status. In our species, the attainment of social status, and the mating benefits that come along with it, can be accomplished through compassion and cooperation just as much if not more so as through aggression and intimidation. Scholars across ethnography, ethology, sociology, and sociolinguistics believe that at least two routes to social status— dominance and prestige — arose in evolutionary history at different times and for different purposes.
The dominance route is paved with intimidation, threats, and coercion, and is fueled by hubristic pride. Hubristic pride is associated with arrogance, conceit, anti-social behaviors, unstable relationships, low levels of conscientiousness and high levels of disagreeableness, neuroticism, narcissism, and poor mental health outcomes.
Hubristic pride, along with its associated feelings of superiority and arrogance, facilitates dominance by motivating behaviors such as aggression, hostility, and manipulation. In contrast, prestige is paved with the emotional rush of accomplishment, confidence, and success, and is fueled by authentic pride. Authentic pride is associated with pro-social and achievement-oriented behaviors, agreeableness, conscientiousness, satisfying interpersonal relationships, and positive mental health.
Critically, authentic pride is associated with genuine self-esteem considering yourself a person of value, not considering yourself superior to others. Authentic pride, along with its associated feelings of confidence and accomplishment, facilitates behaviors that are associated with attaining prestige.
People who are confident, agreeable, hard-working, energetic, kind, empathic, nondogmatic, and high in genuine self-esteem inspire others and cause others to want to emulate them. In this society, dominance as ranked by peers was positively related to physical size, whereas peer-ranked prestige was positively associated with hunting ability, generosity, and number of allies. Interestingly, while advocates for acting dominant often point to chimps as proof of the exclusivity of this route to male status, recent research has shown that even among primates , alpha male status can be achieved not only through size and strength but through adept sociability and the grooming of others as well.
You can be an alpha amongst one group, and a beta in another. In the context of a harsh, dangerous environment, the dominant male is valued because he can get what he wants, and provide resources to those who will submit to and follow him. But outside of pure barbarian society i. In one set of studies conducted on university-level varsity athletes, dominant individuals were found to have lower levels of genuine self-esteem, social acceptance, and agreeableness and higher levels of narcissism, aggression, agency, disagreeableness, and conscientiousness.
Dominant individuals were rated by their peers as higher in athleticism and leadership, but lower in altruism, cooperativeness, helpfulness, ethicality, and morality. In contrast, prestigious individuals had lower levels of aggression and neuroticism, and higher levels of genuine self-esteem, social acceptance, agreeableness, and even GPA.
Just like their dominant peers, prestigious individuals were rated as being better leaders and more athletic, but they were also considered more intellectual, socially skilled, altruistic, cooperative, helpful, ethical, and moral.
These results clearly show that dominance and prestige represent very different ways of attaining and maintaining status.
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