Move over, alpha males. Being No.2 is better, scientists say.
A new study on baboons has found that alpha males, or those at the pinnacle of the social hierarchy, tend to have high stress levels than beta males — the nice guys who are placed second.
The study contrasts with earlier findings that stress levels tend to drop the higher you ascend on the social ladder. It also suggests that being on top of the pile has a big downside too.
For their study, published in the journal Science, the researchers looked at 125 male baboons living in five social groups over a nine-year period in Amboseli, Kenya. They measured their stress hormone levels by analysing 4,500 faecal samples and found that alpha males had very high stress hormone levels, just as high as those of the lowest ranking males. The stress was probably because of the demands of fighting off challengers and guarding access to fertile females.
Beta males, who fought less and had considerably less mate guarding to do, had much lower stress levels. They had fewer mating opportunities than the alphas, but they did get some mating in, more than any lower-ranking males.
—PTI