Alpha describes a certain personality but doesn’t necessarity mean aggressive or dominant.

It just means that other individuals tend to follow that individual, and he/she highest ranking animal in a group can change over time.”

Traditionally, the term alpha has been used to describe dominance behavior in the world of wolves. The term alpha was used to describe the strongest, most aggressive member of the pack. The alpha was thought to take control through force to maintain control over the pack, and it has been challenged through observation by Dr. Jane Goodall and Marc Bekoff, who consider the term alpha as an individual who leads, but not through brute force. Alphas have been described as male and female individuals within a family, traditionally called a wolf pack.

An ethologist is a scientist who studies the behavior of animals in their natural environment.

The following is from a podcast, Find Your Wild, an interview with Marc Bekoff.

“Alpha doesn’t mean aggressive or dominant. It just means that other individuals tend to follow that individual, and he highest ranking animal in a group can change over time.”

“There have been studies that show that the alpha or highest ranking individual commands the attention of others, not in an aggressive way, but commands their attention. So the lower ranking animals in a group are more attentive to where the alpha is and what they’re doing. It couldn’t be a male or a female. And that’s called the attention structure theory of um dominance if you will. So, right. And so among dogs, the reason that it’s been misused is because there are people who go, “Well, I’m the alpha member of my pack, and you know, my pack of dogs or my single dog.”

“But then it’s misused because there are dog trainers out there who advocate the use of horrifically negative reinforcement, and they’ll say, ‘Well, you’re the alpha.” And I’m thinking, “Well, no, no, no. I mean, then all the studies of feral and free ranging dogs show that they form groups that resemble wolf packs, but you once again, the alpha is not beating up on every other individual, even in a feral dog park.”

Clip from: The Emotional Lives of Animals, Ethology, Animal Sentience, and Colorado Wolves with Marc Bekoff.
A professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Marc has published more than 30 books. He has won many awards for his research on animal behavior, animal emotions (cognitive ethology), compassionate conservation, and animal protection, works closely with Jane Goodall as co-chair of the ethics committee of the Jane Goodall Institute, and is a former Guggenheim Fellow. He has also worked closely with inmates at the Boulder County Jail. In June 2022, Marc was recognized as a Hero by the Academy of Dog Trainers.

Dr. Jane Gooall learned the following through her observations.

“Let’s start at the top: The highest-ranking chimpanzee in a group is the alpha-male. These males climb their way to the top of the chimpanzee hierarchy, and the ways they choose to do so can differ with the personality of the individual leader. Take two of the alpha males observed in Gombe, Frodo and Freud, for instance. Though they were brothers, each chimp had a very different leadership style. While Freud maintained control through fostering strong alliances and grooming those he wanted to keep under his command, Frodo relied heavily on aggression and brute strength. In addition to perks like mating rights and duties like patrolling territory and breaking up fights, an alpha male always needs to be watching for the next chimp who will try to take his place.” Source link: https://news.janegoodall.org/2018/07/10/top-bottom-chimpanzee-social-hierarchy-amazing/

“Chimpanzee Freud was the alpha male at Gombe until his younger brother Frodo challenged him. “

While we challenge the old ideas of what an alpha is, it is good to note that individual members of a group or pack have their own specific styles of leadership. One may lead with aggression, while another leads in a non-aggressive manner.

Alpha describes a certain personality, but doesn’t necessarily mean aggressive or dominant.

Learn more links

https://marcbekoff.com