Alpha male andbeta male are terms formen derived from the designations ofalpha and beta animals inethology. They may also be used with other genders, such as women, or additionally use other letters of the Greek alphabet (such assigma). The popularization of these terms to describe humans has been widely criticized by scientists.^[1][2]

Both terms have been frequently used ininternet memes.^[3] The termbeta is used as apejorative self-identifier among some members of themanosphere, particularlyincels, who do not believe they are assertive and/or traditionallymasculine, and feel overlooked by women.^[4][5] It is also used to negatively describe other men who are not deemed to be assertive, particularly with women.^[3][6]

Ininternet culture, the termsigma male is also frequently used, gaining popularity in the early 2020s, but has since been used jokingly, often being used withincel.

The terms were used almost solely in animal ethology prior to the 1990s, particularly in regard to mating privileges with females, ability to hold territory, and hierarchy in terms of food consumption within their herd or flock.^[7] In animal ethology,beta refers to an animal who is subordinate to higher-ranking members in thesocial hierarchy, thus having to wait to eat and having fewer or negligible opportunities forcopulation.^[8]

In the 1982 book ofChimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes,primatologist and ethologistFrans de Waal suggested that his observations of achimpanzee colony could possibly be applied to human interactions. Some commentary on the book, including in theChicago Tribune, discussed its parallels to human power hierarchies. In the early 1990s, some media outlets began to use the termalpha to refer to humans, specifically to "manly" men who excelled in business. JournalistJesse Singal, writing inNew York magazine, attributes the popular awareness of the terms to a 1999Time magazine article, which described an opinion held byNaomi Wolf, who was at the time an advisor to then-presidential candidateAl Gore: "Wolf has argued internally that Gore is a 'Beta male' who needs to take on the 'Alpha male' in the Oval Office before the public will see him as the top dog." Singal also creditsNeil Strauss's bestselling 2005 book onpickup artistry, titledThe Game, for popularizingalpha male as an aspirational ideal.^[9]

The view that there is a dominance hierarchy among humans consisting of "alpha males" and "beta males" is sometimes reported in the mainstream media. The termalpha male is often applied to any dominating man, especiallybullies,^[10] despite the fact that dominating behavior is rarely seen as a positive trait for either an ideal date or a romantic partner.^[11] Claims about women being "hard-wired" to desire "alpha males" are seen by experts asmisogynistic andstereotypical, and are not supported by research.^[12][13][14] Evolutionary psychologists who study human mating behavior instead believe that humans use two distinct strategies – dominance and prestige – for climbing social hierarchies, and that prestige plays a significantly more important role in establishing men's attractiveness to women than does dominance.^[11] Cognitive scientistScott Barry Kaufman summarizes:^[11]

Taken together, the research suggests that the ideal man (for a date or romantic partner) is one who is assertive, confident, easygoing, and sensitive, without being aggressive, demanding, dominant, quiet, shy, or submissive. In other words, aprestigious man, not a dominant man. In fact, it appears that the prestigious man who is high in both assertivenessand kindness is considered themost attractive to women for both short-term affairs and long-term relationships.

Misconceptions about "alpha males" are common within themanosphere, a collection of websites, blogs, and online forums promoting masculinity, strongopposition to feminism, and misogyny which includes movements such as themen's rights movement, incels (involuntary celibates),Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW),pick-up artists (PUA), andfathers' rights groups.^{[15][4][16][17]}

The termbeta is also often used among manosphere communities to refer to men they consider easily taken advantage of or ignored by women.^[18][19][20] Its usage is inconsistent;media studies scholar Debbie Ging has described the communities' theories about "alpha, beta, omega, and zeta masculinity" as "confused and contradictory".^[19]Beta is sometimes used as self-identifier among men who do not embodyhegemonic masculinity.^[4][5] It is also sometimes used by manospherians as a pejorative term for men who are or are perceived to befeminist, or who are thought to be acting as "white knights".^[21] Some manosphere groups refer to members of other groups in the manosphere asbetas; for example, members of the MGTOW community sometimes use it to refer to men's rights activists or incels.^[4] Members of the pickup artist (PUA) communities use it to refer to men who cannotseduce women.^[22] Similar terms used by the manosphere communities includenice guy,cuck,simp, andsoy boy.^{[18][23][24][25]}

Sigma male is aninternet slang term to describe solitary, masculinemen. The term gained prominence withininternet culture during the late 2010s and early 2020s, and has inspired numerousmemes,graffitis andvideos.^[26] It is used to denote a male who is equivalent to analpha male but exists outside the alpha-beta male hierarchy as a "lone wolf". In themanosphere, it is regarded as the "rarest" kind of male.^[27][28][29] In 2023, #sigma gained over 46 billion views on the social media platformTikTok.^[30] In 2024, the Russian songSigma Boy became viral on TikTok and charted on Spotify, YouTube and iTunes.

The term first appeared in a blog post by American writerVox Day.^[31] Later, California plastic surgeon John T. Alexander published the bookThe Sigma Male: What Women Really Want. In 2018, the term appeared on YouTube and in 2021 it went viral after a tweet by Lily Simpson.^[32][33][34]

The term sigma male has also taken on an ironic and satirical meaning, often mocking the concept of the "manosphere" and the ideas ofhustle culture with bizarre and nonsensical actions being considered part of the sigma male mindset or "grindset".^[27][35] On social media, the term is often used to describe idealistic, masculine fictional characters from films and TV shows. Notably, actorChristian Bale's portrayal of the characterPatrick Bateman from the 2000 filmAmerican Psycho is often cited as an ideal representation of a "sigma male", both through memes and unironic discussion.^[36][30]

Beth Skwarecki, health editor of theweblogLifehacker, describes the sigma male as a "bullshit concept from the incel world."^[37] Due to the term's attribution to fictional film characters, it has been highlighted as promoting unrealistic personality andbeauty standards.^{[citation needed]}

In themanosphere, the termalpha fux beta bux (commonly abbreviated AF/BB)^[38] which is an alteredspelling of the phrase "alphafucks, betabucks", presupposes amating strategy ofhypergamy or "marrying up" among women whereby they prefer the more masculine "alpha" males forsexual relationships but settle for less attractive but morecompliant "beta" males forfinancial security.^[39][40] Sometimes it expresses a belief that womenmarry or establish (oftensexless) long-term relationships with beta malesout of convenience to exploit them financially, while continuing to keep options open forinfidelity andextramarital sex with alpha males.^[19][20] Ging explains these beliefs as an effort by young men in theWestern world to cope with their limited economic prospects after the2008 financial crisis by appealing togender-essentialist notions ofgold-digging women popular inpostfeminist culture.^[39]

This assertion that women are cheating on their providers and having children with other men is largely untrue. Studies show that only 1–2% of births come from unfaithful mothers.^[41][42] While some studies have suggested thatwomen wanted to cheat on their partners while ovulating, these results have not been replicated and have been invalidated by newer studies.^[43][44][45]

Abeta orbiter is a beta male who invests time and effort into mingling with women in the hope of eventually getting into a romantic relationship or having sex with them. The term earned some media attention in 2019 with themurder of Bianca Devins. A man killed the 17-year-old Devins and posted photographs of her body online, one of which bore the caption, "sorry fuckers, you're going to have to find somebody else to orbit."^[46][47]

The termbeta uprising orincel rebellion has been used largely among incels to refer to revenge by members of their community who have been overlooked by women.^[48] It is also sometimes used to describe a movement to overthrow what they view as an oppressive, feminist society.^[49] A2018 vehicle-ramming attack in Toronto, Canada, was perpetrated by a man who had posted on hisFacebook page just prior to the attack, "the Incel Rebellion has already begun".^[49] Media outlets have used the termsbeta uprising andincel rebellion to refer to acts of violence perpetrated by members of manosphere communities, particularly incels.^[49][19]

Look upalpha male,beta male,delta male,gamma male,omega male, orsigma male in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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