Alpha Confirmed

Social statistics confirm the reality of the human Alpha Male

There have been a lot of efforts to dismiss the observable reality of the Alpha male, right down to attempting to deny the existence of Alpha males in the lupine and primate populations.

The concept of the alpha male isn't standing up to reality. A large majority of primate communities have shared dominance, meaning either sex can come out on top. And though the idea of male dominance has been disseminated across society, humans share many traits with non-male-dominated species.

But nevertheless, the observable and undeniable fact is that there is a small percentage of the human male population that enjoys far greater sexual access to the female population than the average.

A study published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) found that between 2000-2002 and 2016-2018, the proportion of 18-24-year-old individuals who reported having had no sexual activity in the pastyear increased among men (but not among women).1 In another recent study, similar results were reported: American men belonging to the youngest birth cohort who entered adulthood were more likely to be sexually inactive than their Millennial counterparts at the same ages just a few years prior.2

While the number of young men who report having no sexual experiences is increasing, there are also men who have more sex partners than ever before.

The National Survey of Family Growth data shows that in 2002 the most sexually active top 20% of American heterosexual men had 12 lifetime sex partners while the top 5% had 38 partners. Ten years later, in 2012, the most sexually active top 20% now reported 15 lifetime sex partners and the top 5% of men reported 50 lifetime sex partners. There was no change in the median number of sex partners.

The distribution of the number of sex partners among American heterosexual men was skewed already, but in just 10 years, the distribution of sex partners among men became even more skewed. During the same time, there was no such change in the number of sex partners for heterosexual women.

Sex is concentrated within a small, yet sexually active, group of people. In one study, it was reported that the 5% of the population with the highest number of vaginal sex acts accounted for more vaginal sex acts than the bottom 50% of the population with the lowest number of vaginal sex acts.

That “top 5% of men” are your Alphas. As I first pointed out back in 2010: “Alpha lifetime sexual partners = 4x average+.” And, as it turns out, I may have actually underestimated the extent to which the average Alpha’s sexual success exceeds the norm.

And it’s also worth noting that the Bravos have also benefited from the Tinderization of the US sexual economy, although not to the same extent as the Alphas. I did get their relative advantage correct, however, at 2-3x average.

This is why the sexual component of the SSH is vital, because it provides a clear objective measure that makes the various status pretensions of lower-status men easily falsifiable.

As always, I remind the reader that neither status nor behavioral patterns should be confused with morality, and that posturing about what one wishes one’s preferences to be is both a) meaningless to everyone else, b) statistically irrelevant, and c) probably false anyhow. It’s not an accident that the men who are most successful with women also happen to be the men who are most inclined to ignore what women say they prefer.