Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Alphas are bullies

This should come as precisely zero surprise to anyone. The most vicious bullies are always those most desperate to increase their status:
Bullying behaviors are linked to higher self-esteem, social status, and a lower rate of depression, according to a new provocative study. Researchers at Simon Fraser University observed a group of high school students finding that bullies had the highest self esteem, greatest social status, and were less likely to be depressed, as reported by National Post.

“Humans tend to try to establish a rank hierarchy,” Jennifer Wong, a criminology professor who led the study, told the Post. “When you’re in high school, it’s a very limited arena in which you can establish your rank, and climbing the social ladder to be on top is one of the main ways … Bullying is a tool you can use to get there.”

Wong notes that many anti-bullying initiatives try to change the behavior of bullies, but often don’t work. This is likely because behavior is hard-wired and not learned, she says. Experts suggest that schools might expand competitive, supervised activities as an alternative outlet to channel dominating behavior.

The new study surveyed 135 teenagers from a Vancouver high school using a standard questionnaire. Questions included things like how often individuals were hit or shoved. Researchers then categorized the students into four groups: bully, bystander, victim, or victim-bully.

About 11 percent of the group was categorized as bullies and they scored highest on self-esteem, social status, and lowest on depression, according to study.

In a separate study, Tony Volk, a Brock University psychologist, found among 178 teenagers surveyed, bullies also were more sexually active.

“The average bully isn’t particularly sadistic or even deeply argumentative,” he says. “What they really are is people driven for status.”
This may actually help explain a key difference between sigmas and alphas, as well as why the two sexual alpha-variants tend to harbor a certain amount of dislike for one another. Sigmas are not bullies, and most of them tend to actively dislike bullies of any rank. Alphas bully in order to maintain their social status, although to be fair, they don't tend to be vicious like the gamma bullies desperately trying to keep themselves from being perceived as omegas.

Perhaps because I was bullied quite a bit at a very young age, but I have a very strong and somewhat violent instinctive reaction to bullying. My senior year of high school, I got in trouble for beating up a fifth-grader, although in truth I did nothing more than pick him up by the throat, throw him up against a brick wall, and make him wet his pants while expanding his vocabulary.

I was called into the dean's office by the incredulous dean, who was very curious to know why a senior who had never gotten into any of that sort of trouble in the six years he'd known me would beat up a little kid after school and do so in front of practically the entire elementary school while wearing my letter jacket. (Apparently there were more than a few complaints made by various parents and teachers.) It wasn't exactly an inconspicuous affair.

After I explained that while picking up my little brothers, my third-grade brother had come to the car and said that a big mean fifth-grader had knocked down our first-grade brother and was making him cry, he closed his eyes and started shaking his head. By the time I explained that I had left the car running in the road and that my ninth-grade brother had literally gone over the hood and arrived right behind me, he was grinning. And after he called our mother, and was informed that the only way we would have been punished at home is if we hadn't promptly dealt with the little shit and put the fear of God and big brothers into him, he was chuckling.

I still intensely dislike bullying and those who needlessly seek to throw their weight around. And their tendency to bully others, however lightly, is one reason why I tend to respect alphas more than like them.

43 comments:

Laguna Beach Fogey said...

Given that so many white boys are raised as pussies, we should probably encourage more--not less--bullying behaviours.

Bring back bullying!

VD said...

Sam... Sam Biddle? Is that you?

Anchorman said...

#saveourbullies

Res Ipsa said...

This may actually help explain a key difference between sigmas and alphas, as well as why the two sexual alpha-variants tend to harbor a certain amount of dislike for one another.

The "he WILL fight back" realization combined with not caring or being outwardly affected by group think is disturbing to the Alpha. The guy that plays football and likes being in the chess club doesn't fit into the picture. When a bully tries to run a bluff and gets punched in the face he learns that the sigma is a threat to his status that he can't do anything about without risking more than he can gain.

Laguna Beach Fogey said...

LOL @ VD ... Boys who are bullied generally deserve it. The ones who survive the rough treatment are usually better off for it. If you've ever attended an all-boys' school, you'll know what I mean. It's the extreme cases that I oppose, e.g., bullying retards, spergs, handicapped, etc.

#bringbackourbullies

Trust said...

I remember a girl from years back who prided herself on sticking up for kids when they were bullied. She did... she would always jump a bully's ass for being mean. Then she'd end up dating the bully. It's all she ever dated. It's not uncommon for women to regard themselves as a solution to a problem when they are actually feeding the problem.

Brad Andrews said...

Boys who are bullied generally deserve it.

Yep, I deserved it because I was a fairly strong introvert and had no father in the home to train me.

I outgrew it when I gained size and I pity the one who tries it now, but you are full of crap.

Trust said...

I agree with Brad. The "deserve it" argument is crap. That's the same logic the rewards a wife for destroying a family because the husband must have deserved it by not being a RealMan(TM).

You can rationalize anything thus way, since everyone is fallible in some way.

R Beisert said...

I don't much care for bullying, but I do believe in responding to attacks on honor. Verbal bullies are vicious and often need a good fight to push them back in line.

That said, all schools need to do is roll their policies back a bit. Bring back fisticuffs and wrestling as daily/weekly PE activities.

En-sigma said...

I don't like a bully. It comes from a position of power, true (or perceived power, what did Varys say? Power resides where men believe it resides) and that position may be physical power - more muscle, more more men, more weapons, more money - or it can just be the power over the opinion of the masses. Either way, a bully rarely operates from a position of intelligence, or logic, or leadership, or altruistic motives to better strengthen men.

David said...

" Boys who are bullied generally deserve it. The ones who survive the rough treatment are usually better off for it. If you've ever attended an all-boys' school, you'll know what I mean. It's the extreme cases that I oppose, e.g., bullying retards, spergs, handicapped, etc."

That's retarded. When do bullies ever bully somebody that can offer them a fair fight? I was bullied twice in my life by two different ones and in both cases they had a group of eight or ten friends with them. Fight them off? I wish, maybe I'd get a punch in before I was knocked out, but you can't fight that many, especially when they're older than you and nobody's around to back you up.

Anchorman said...

The bullied "deserve it."

Isn't that how SJWs justify their lynch mobs?

Miguel D'Anconia said...

The only way to stop bullying is to beat the shit out of the bully and show him/her that actions have consequences. F playing nice.

Unknown said...

All bullies are cowards.

Brad Andrews said...

I would agree with that Miguel. I was regularly picked on during my several month high school stint at a local grocery. One day I had enough and just wailed on the guy who constantly picked on me. Not much damage, but it surprised everyone and I don't recall him saying a peep after that.

Dominic Saltarelli said...

Hmmm.... Growing up I occupied every part of that spectrum, often over the course of a single day. There were some kids I picked on, and others who picked on me. Figured that was just life. But the topic of bullying is something that I've been chewing on lately, especially given the SJW "war on bullies" that seems to have been a thing for a few years now.

An analysis of bullying actually adds to the growing list of reasons why SJWs and the progressive liberal left and whatever other moniker these people go by (lets just go back to calling them all hippies) are wrong about everything all the time. Speaking from personal experience, the biggest brake on my behavior that only encouraged my more socially savvy bullies was a fear of authority. I didn't want to get in trouble, and considered it shameful to be sent to the principle's office. The bullies have no such fear, they consider a trip to the principle's office either something to be proud of or simply don't care. Thus, ironically, the presence of authority figures which act to discourage violence and strife among children are one of the primary enablers for bullies to do their thing. The universal reaction of SJWs to anything they consider a problem is to increase the amount of top down control present. More police, more administrators, more rules. I've seen first hand how this approach simply emboldens dirtbags. More rules and more control just means more (and easier) victims for the bullies. The SJW approach accomplishes the exact opposite of what it seeks to cure.

tweell said...

When you're a loner and get bullied by a group, the easiest way I found to deal with it was to call out the leader. Unfortunately that rarely worked. The backup strategy is to go after the leader, take the punishment (it's going to happen anyways) and hurt them as much as possible before going down. Most of the time that works - alphas don't like getting hurt and will steer away from you afterwards. If they kept bullying, I would find a time and place when they were alone, then put them in the hospital.
Never fight fair - they aren't, so why should you? A nice large rock in a sock was my favorite - low tech, cheap and effective.

The Original Hermit said...

The conclusions of this article don't sit quite right with me. Alphas compete with other alphas, and those they perceive as competitors. Bullies prey on the weak. There is no competition because it's (apparent) strength against weakness or timidity. On a one dimensional questionnaire it might appear to be the same, but play out very differently in real life.

Trust said...

Ladies to men: don't be bullies, or else we'll have to fix you with our magic Black and Deckers.

Anonymous said...

LOL once again funny as hell

Violence is what keeps your people your people and not someone else's slaves; keeps your shit your shit and not someone else's war prize; keeps your women your women and your kids' heads from being smashed in. In evolutionary/ tribal terms non-violent men are not much use.

It really is that simple. Want to end bullying? Teach boys to be violent. They don't have to be professionals but enough to fuck up the other dude's return on investment.

I grew up in the era of forced bussing and was violent enough my brother, 10 years my junior, and my sister, 17 years younger, were rarely fucked with by the imported diversity. When they were, I returned and tooled up some pavement apes. When my daughter was bullied for being White and in Hawaii, I tooled up th parents. Violence is golden. The West is weak because we have forgotten that.

I never felt the need to bully so like Hermit this doesn't sit right with my experiences. It was the kids in the middle of the social ladder that did the bulling(needed status?) and of course never messed with the bigger/ stronger/ more popular kids. Frankly as an upper tier kid in high school I didn't pay much attention to lower tiered kids unless we shared some hobby and they were particularly good at it. One nerd was smart enough to make friends with me as a way to shield himself from violent negros. The rest of the nerds were dumbasses.

What was the name for that training regime Spartans put their boys through? Reckon that was bullying to but it worked

Manu said...

Sometimes I wonder what I should think, in regards to this. On the one hand, I agree with VD, and just don't like Alphas who do this. It's grating, and I would like very much to beat the shit out of them myself, were I able. On the other hand, that's the crux, isn't it? I'm not able to.

Weakness is a serious problem in the West. Too many Gammas. And Gammas *need* to be bullied, smacked around and have the shit kicked out of them, because otherwise they will never learn. They will confuse weakness with strength. I don't like bullies, but there is a social utility to them in a society that is filled predominantly with pussies.

Anonymous said...

Alphas bully in order to maintain their social status, although to be fair, they don't tend to be vicious like the gamma bullies desperately trying to keep themselves from being perceived as omegas.

I imagine that's because Alphas don't make things personal or hold grudges, unlike Gammas.

Weakness is a serious problem in the West. Too many Gammas. And Gammas *need* to be bullied, smacked around and have the shit kicked out of them, because otherwise they will never learn.

@Dystopic
Yeah, I don't bully (I don't think Deltas like me are given to doing it), but there are times when Gammas have nearly brought out a bullying instinct in me. I mean, so many of them have Backpfeiffengesichte it isn't even funny.

Anonymous said...

I imagine that's because Alphas don't make things personal or hold grudges, unlike Gammas.

I don't think I phrased that quite correctly... but then again, I don't really understand Alphas any more than I can wrap my head around the Gamma mentality. The only mentalities I can really empathize with are Delta, Sigma, and (to an extent) Omega.

Unknown said...

Until you've had the rage switch flipped to the point where you are literally a passenger in your own slow motion but fast in real life violence episode you will always react wrongly in most situations. This is why there have always been trials for young men. It's not some new age prove yourself to nature or find your inner beauty b.s. It's because you have to look the lion in the mouth before you can be a man.

We've made the West so comfortable that men are worst than women. They preen and they posit without understanding the real world. Of course by real world I mean savagery, violence, corruption, filth, and degeneracy. This is the glory of Christ; to transcend this. However because we are not of this world does not mean we shouldn't better equip ourselves to live IN this world. If only to preserve a Remnant in our children,etc.

This is why I can never listen to politicians and have a harder and harder time listening to "modern" preachers or priests. They assume way too much good faith in others, while others are more than happy to abuse this good faith.

Anonymous said...

Totally agree with this post. The only serious trouble I got into as a young man was when cops came across me as I was sitting on top of a kid 5 years younger than me, similarly expanding his vocabulary. Why? Becuase I had run across him terrorizing and beating the crap out of two boys 2 years young than him. I got in some serious trouble, but I still think I did the right thing. (Note: I did not hurt the boy, just put the fear of someone very much larger than him into him to let him know that if we're going to think it's okay to bully those much smaller than oneself, then oneself may be a target)

Tommy Hass said...

What is it with you and grabbing young children by the throat?

Anonymous said...

@ Res Ipsa

The "he WILL fight back" realization combined with not caring or being outwardly affected by group think is disturbing to the Alpha. The guy that plays football and likes being in the chess club doesn't fit into the picture.

Wow, substitute "debate team" for "chess club" in that and that was me in high school. Shit, no wonder the Big Swinging Dicks hated my guts. Especially when pop culture swung my way as a junior and what was "stupid punk rock shit" became cool overnight and by the time I was a senior was dating one of the best looking girls at the school.

I think I was seriously pissing them off. This may in fact be why. I always wondered why they bothered themselves with me. I just wsn't in their world at all and they weren't on my radar. The fact that I was a known fighter who actually, seriously, in reality didnt' give two flying fucks about high school social scene must have really bugged those guys.

Thomas Howard said...

So much to be said on this topic, a blog post comment just doesn't cut it.
Bullying is a necessary evil that everyone encounters at some point; developing a way of dealing with it is a vital life skill. Unfortunately, some take far longer to learn to effectively counter bullying than others. The tragedy of antibullying campaigns is they undoubtedly lead to some poor souls finding themselves lost and bewildered when their first bullying incident is with their boss in the workplace or some other socially inconvenient setting. A hallmark of the millenial generation (raised on antibullying) is a fragile self esteem, lacking in resiliency, partly because of these campaigns.
Additionally, bullying and the coping strategies associated with bullying (along with corporal punishment) clarify certain bright lines that denote important interpersonal boundaries. Anyone who makes a habit of being awake and alert on a daily basis has undoubtedly noted the growing multitude of "line-steppers". These civilization destroyers are marked by their tenuous connection of the relationship between actions and consequences. A little chin-check back in the adolescent or preadolescent years goes a long way toward straightening all this out.

Res Ipsa said...

@Jourdan

You inspired me to take a crack at defining Sigma. I don't know how close it agrees with Vox's take on the topic but I think its close.

Zorro said...

Cyril Figgis hurt most.

VD said...

What is it with you and grabbing young children by the throat?

It's the easiest way to freeze them without doing them any harm.

Mr.MantraMan said...

The anti-bullying campaign another phony press driven issue, directed only at the "Common Enemy", more inane political posturing by mutants

SociallyExtinct said...

There is bullying that "serves a purpose" and there is bullying that is pointless and juvenile.

Most school bullying falls into the latter category, whereas most adult bullying falls in the first category. Purposeful bullying is the more emotional and verbal type. A whole lot of this bullying goes on in the adult high school world of the workplace.

Once in a while adult bullying degenerates into the pointless variant, ie, Donald Trump's barrage of insults at John McCain. That met the pointless criteria...McCain is not even a viable player any more, he is old and irrelevant.

Ultimately, bullying is not Alpha whatsoever. I would presume that a true Alpha would pick on people "his size." Bullying is typified by preying on weaker individuals who lack the ability to self-defend for a variety of reasons.

Chris said...

Went to https://watson-pi-demo.mybluemix.net/ and entered "This may actually help explain a key difference ... I tend to respect alphas more than like them."

The result:

You are boisterous, expressive and genial.

You are empathetic: you feel what others feel and are compassionate towards them. You are confident: you are hard to embarrass and are self-confident most of the time. And you are carefree: you do what you want, disregarding rules and obligations.

Your choices are driven by a desire for efficiency.

You are relatively unconcerned with taking pleasure in life: you prefer activities with a purpose greater than just personal enjoyment. You consider helping others to guide a large part of what you do: you think it is important to take care of the people around you.

---

Seems like a glowing review. Next, to find a SJW site to test.

Marissa said...

What is it with you and grabbing young children by the throat?

It's the easiest way to freeze them without doing them any harm.


Works well with dogs too.

bw said...

ie, Donald Trump's barrage of insults at John McCain. That met the pointless criteria...

Would make sense if someone knew nothing about McCain and accepted his - and the media's - "story" about his life at face value.
It brings into focus false "hero" worship, the MIC, and the giant Lies surrounding McCain and his past and his father, and how and why all of that would relate to power within the cuckservative, loser GOP. It also highlights his flip-flopping on issues, and a little remembering highlights the fact that McCain was going to switch parties if it brought himself more political success and power. Trump barely scratched the surface in outing the cuck.
It wasn't bullying, it was Truth and an expose. Hardly pointless.

Anchorman said...

I'm fine with McCain's service or actions while serving as a POW being called, "heroic." By accounts, he did his best to resist and he survived. He returned with honor, having survived unimagined brutality for years. All because he wore the uniform and performed his duty. I know about the USS Forrestal.

That said, it doesn't give him permanent untouchable status. It's not sainthood and we're not Soviets ("Hero of the Republic").

I'll buy him a beer, but it doesn't buy him my vote.

Tommy Hass said...

"It's the easiest way to freeze them without doing them any harm."

Somewhat counter intuitive, this. I wouldn't rust myself to manage avoiding injury. But whichever works...

Joseph Dooley said...

The dean sounds like the last school administrator with a spine left.

MichaelJMaier said...

" By accounts, he did his best to resist and he survived. He returned with honor, having survived unimagined brutality for years. All because he wore the uniform and performed his duty. I know about the USS Forrestal."

Which accounts are those?

Anonymous said...

How do they know bullies are less depressed and have higher self esteem? By asking them?? As if psychopaths weren't capable of deception... I'm skeptical

dc.sunsets said...

"Bully" means "chicken shit" in my experience, a guy who picks on people who are in no way a threat to him (or her), and who generally can't or predictably won't fight back.

That's an alpha in this system? I must've missed something.

dc.sunsets said...

A man who enters a contest (even one characterized by social violence) with a rival in order to elevate status may be an alpha in this system. A man who kicks his dog isn't an alpha, he's an asshole.

Post a Comment

NO ANONYMOUS COMMENTS.