Alpha Males Only Exist in Captivity

The theory popularized by the book The Wolf: Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species, published in 1970, has long since been debunked. Turns out, the observation that there was a strict pecking order to the pack that governed all behavior was because the researchers were working with wolves in captivity. Essentially, the alpha male things doesn’t happen in the wild and it’s like observing prison rules for wolves.

Watch “Alpha” Wolf? from the author of The Wolf.

See also:

• Disagreeable people do not have an advantage
• Imitating high-status people doesn’t work