One of the hallmarks of being an alpha male is that you are willing to take risks to improve your situation. This is in contrast to the Beta Male which, by its very nature, plays it safe.
Perhaps it would be good to define what is a beta male versus an alpha male. In primate societies (of which we are a part) there is a social hierarchy that has evolved into human beings from our primate ancestors. This hierarchy, generally expressed in the males of primate cultures, can be divided into two basic groups. The first is the alpha male, or the leader of the company. The Alpha Male is in charge of the safety of the company from predators and other threatening males of other troops. In addition, Alpha Male is also in charge of meeting the other needs of the company. In human society, the alpha male, the tribal leader, is in charge of the emotional, financial, social, nutritional, and physical well-being of his tribe members. This is not new, it is simple human nature.
That said, the alpha male will find himself attractive to women as well. Women, who are smaller and physically weaker, as well as slower, need protection if they are not only going to survive in the jungle, but also survive long enough to reproduce and pass their genes on to the next generation. Therefore, women are programmed to be attracted to the alpha male, this is still true in humans. Women want an assertive man who is the leader of the men and who takes care of all their needs and the needs of the entire tribe, and does so from a position of strength and authority.
The Beta Male, on the other hand, is a follower. He is passive-aggressive, which means that he does things covertly (while the alpha male is more straightforward). In human terms, this can manifest itself by trying to “bribe” people into liking them, doing favors for others to return favors, chasing women they are attached to, and a host of other things. Beta males are actually classified by their passivity in any given situation. What also follows is that the Beta Male will resort to backstabbing, gossiping and whining when he doesn’t get his way.
Now that we have that established, we can see the basis why alpha male and beta male differ in the risk department. If a male is going to be an alpha male, that means he will put himself in danger and put himself at more risk. Frankly, who risks more than the leader of a group? Think of the officer who leads the army, or the team’s quarterback, or perhaps the CEO of a company. The higher you rise in the social hierarchy, the more people await your demise and the faster they want that to happen so they can take your place. Sometimes this is done directly by other Alpha Males, and sometimes it is done passively by Beta Male types.
So being the leader of the group means that you are exposing yourself to the “attacks” of others. That also means that if the Alpha Male fails, the lives of the entire tribe (or in our case, the company, the military unit, or the soccer team, for example) is at risk. So the Alpha Male has to confidently take the risks that come his way.
But the beta male, by nature, is someone who is in the shadow of the alpha male. Like the Alpha Male (and any male), he too wants to climb the chain and be a leader, but for some reason he lacks the skill or perhaps the confidence to do so. The nature of the Beta Man is to “play it safe” and wait for opportunity to fall into his lap. Again, the Beta Male will resort to passive tactics such as bribery or ass kissing or doing favors for someone to reward them with a higher position in the tribe. (Remember, tribe in this sense means any organization or group of which man may find himself a part)
So Beta Male is safe; In a sense, he eats the scraps from the Alpha Male’s table and is happy with it. That means his loyalty will quickly shift to whoever has the ability to feed him best – that is, give him what he wants. By the way, all males start out as Beta Males, but some of them grow up to become Alpha Males, those are the guys who take risks in life.
This can certainly be seen in a business environment. There are some guys who are drones, who play it safe, who do enough work to keep their jobs and get by. Sometimes they get promoted, simply because someone else gets promoted or dies, but often they feel comfortable and stay there. They trade the great alpha male lifestyle for the safety of the beta male.
How about in romance? Well, you can see it clearly there too. Have you ever been to a club and seen a bunch of guys standing with a drink on their chests watching the action? The guys who go there expecting (or worse still WAITING) for a girl to come up and talk to them? They don’t dare risk being shot down, so they just stand there and wait for people to come up to them.
Then there are the guys at the club who risk being knocked down. They approach people, specifically women; sometimes they tear them down and sometimes they manage to make a connection. But the fact that they are willing to take the risk opens up much more possibilities than the Passive Beta Man who will not make any connections because he will not “risk” being taken down.
On top of that, women WANT men who are willing to take risks. In the days of our ancestors, the guy who could take risks was the one who would likely be the Alpha Male, that meant he was going to be a leader, and THAT meant he wouldn’t just have his strengths and resources to protect. her and her potential offspring, but that she had the resources of the entire tribe at her disposal! If the name of the game is survival, then the woman who is bonded to the Alpha Male has a better chance of survival.
That means that the very act of approaching a woman, that is, showing that you would be taking the risk, automatically clicks all the attraction buttons in a woman’s brain. That alone gives you points in your book and increases the chances that the man can make a connection with the woman. The Beta Man, on the other hand, LOSES points by standing and being passive when it comes to women. That means that in the romantic world, no one starts with a score of zero: either you start out positive (the Alpha Male who takes a chance and steps up) or negative (the Beta Male who sits passively and watches).
We cannot escape the brain wiring that brought us here. In our jungle days, it was the Alpha Male who took the risk and became the Alpha Male, who had the troop to help him survive (as they helped him survive) who came to breed with the females of the world. That brain wiring that got us here is still alive and well in our brains, so it’s the guy who’s assertive and takes risks who ends up winning the girl in the end. Not just the girl, but the job, the money, and even things like fame and fortune and glory.