We will discuss about 3 Major Wolf Personality Types in the article below. Stay tuned to know more.
“Humans belong to the animal kingdom.” This fact manifests itself in the form of similarities seen between humans and some animal species. One of the many other animals that humans share their characteristics with is the wolf. There was a reason that Rudyard Kipling found only wolves to be fit enough to look after Mowgli, the human cub amongst so many animals. Falling in the predator's category, the wolf presents some unique personality traits that made researchers name a whole personality type after the animal. The wolf pack is divided into three categories: alpha, beta, and omega, with alpha being at the top of the hierarchy and omega being at last. In the wolf pack and human society, the alpha is the one who wants to dominate. Often referred to as ‘the born leader,’ alphas are very confident, aggressive, and dominant in the middle of the hierarchy fall beta. They want to get by. They cannot lead and are known as ‘the conformists’ or ‘the nice guy.’ They are the type of guys who are often friend-zoned by ladies despite being kind and nice. Then comes the omega or the ‘lone wolf.’ In the wolf pack, they are the weakest one, cornered by the rest of the pack. But in the case of humans, the omega is the one who chose to be aloof. The ‘silent kid’ in the school or that ‘weird guy’ at your office, who doesn’t talk much, is probably an omega. “
Wolf Personality
Wolf, the jungle-dwelling creature, prefers to stay in groups, better known as the ‘pack,’ a quality not shared by many of its predator counterparts. The pack is like human society, where everyone has a role to perform and a responsibility to fulfill. The one walking foremost would be the leader. Leading the pack to the destination while looking out for every possible danger. The leader is followed by a team of young, strong males ready to attack and defend when they call. The one in the last, deliberately trying to be slower than the rest of the pack would be the strongest male, trying to protect other members from any danger that could come from behind. Cubs, females, old, ill, and weak pack members will be safe and protected in the center. When the leader gets tired, it goes to the back and is replaced by the second strongest member. The same order is also followed in human societies, where the strongest member leads and protects the group, being followed by those who cannot protect themselves.
While almost every animal could be tamed, even the king of the jungle, wolves can neither be domesticated nor tamed. The circus proves it all. Many wild animals are tamed and trained in circuses, but no one ever saw a wolf performing stunts in a circus out of fear of punishment or in exchange for a treat. This reminds me of hippies or the ‘rebels’ of society. The people who couldn’t be tamed by the family or the society; not with love neither by violence.
Its been seen that wolves find it hard to stay faithful to their partners and find a new partner in no time if their old partner dies or gets sexually inactive. Even being with their partners, they are said to have a few flings here and there. But their loyalty towards their family is unquestionable. Wolves can die protecting their cubs from danger.
Another personality trait that makes wolves stand out from the rest is their spirit of not giving up. While other predators are easy to scare away with fire or some weapon, wolves never run away, leaving their prey behind. If a wolf once laid its eye on prey, it would hunt it down against all odds. This perseverance is not presented by any other animal species, except humans. Only in our case, it evolved to take the shape of passion and commitment. Because of this passion, despite not being the strongest, humans are practically ruling the world. Just like no two humans are alike, two wolves are also not alike. With that said, let’s explore different types of wolf personality.
3 Major Wolf Personality Types
Nature created everyone to be different. This law of nature ensures the proper functioning of the creation. Often in groups and teams, individuals are assigned roles by their traits, strengths, and weaknesses. That is exactly how a wolf packs functions. A wolf pack is divided into three categories, depending upon characteristics exhibited by each of its members. These personality traits decide what role will be assigned to whom.
1. WHO WILL LEAD?
The leader of the pack pretty much decides the destiny of its fellow packmates. The whole pack follows the leader around without questioning. The rebels are either put in their places or thrown out of the pack. The male who is capable of leading is called the alpha male. Both in the wolf pack and human society, alpha males are born to lead. Alphas hunt for the pack and are the first ones to eat. All the other members eat only after the alpha finishes. What alpha traits differentiate them from the rest of the pack and qualifies them to lead?
- Dominance
There are only two types of people on this planet. One is dominant, and another is submissive. The one who takes charge and is powerful dominates; the other is not that powerful and hence, follows. To be a leader, it is important to possess the trait of dominance. Alphas are the most dominant of all. Members who don’t listen to alphas are not forgiven.
In the wolf pack, there is only one mating couple. And that would be of an alpha male and an alpha female. Alpha males don’t let any other male of the packmate.
Also, they hate it when someone tries to invade their personal space.
- Confidence
Both alpha males and females are full of confidence. This confidence manifests itself in their body language and voice. Alphas stand tall and walk with pride. There is confidence in their eyes. They take shorter steps and tend to keep their pace slow. Their voice is loud and clear. And they don’t hesitate to keep their opinions forth. An alpha is easy to spot, be it a wolf in a pack or a human in the middle of a city, commuting to his/her work.
- Aggression
Alphas tend to be very aggressive. Their aggression often makes them intimidating. But the same aggression comes in handy while hunting or fighting dangers. It is because of this aggression that alphas don’t easily give up during tough times.
- Leadership
As we established earlier, alphas are born to lead. Their clear vision and ability to think beyond makes them an ideal leader. They take the pack by hand and lead it through every difficult situation. You will never see an alpha leaving behind his/her weak counterparts. They put time and effort into the development of weak members.
Alphas tend to be very responsible. They never run away from responsibilities. If they make a mistake, they will own it and make up for it.
- Alertness
Alphas tend to stay alert at all times. They anticipate danger and work to keep it away from their fellow mates. If there is a predator around, alphas will be the first to notice, just like danger. Alphas also anticipate opportunities and try their best to take them. This makes alphas more successful than others.
- Courage
To lead a troop and protect it against all dangers is not possible in the absence of courage. They will go all the way to fight away predators and enemies and ensure everyone’s safety. At many points, the leader needs to make tough decisions, failing at which means compromising the pack’s safety. At such times, it is important to display courage and proceed further to make those decisions.
Alphas won’t hesitate to stand up for themselves or others, no matter how risky it is. Even at work, you can easily find an alpha standing against the higher authority they disagree with.
- Strategic Planning
A leader who cannot plan cannot succeed. Many obstacles are presented amongst a leader on a day to basis. The leader who cannot plan a strategy to get out of such situations will put the pack in danger. Alphas are good at strategic planning. Their brain is always trying to interpret the situation and solve it like a math equation. And hence, when they are confronted with a problem, they come up with out of the box ideas to lead their troop out of that problem.
Challenges of Being an Alpha:
1. Work
Alphas have a constant need to lead. They can’t follow someone and find a lot of difficulty in taking orders. Their huge ego doesn’t allow them to take criticism well, making it difficult to work with them.
2. Relationship
Their bossy nature and overpowering qualities often make their relationships toxic. They can’t share their personal space with anyone and, therefore, couldn’t build intimate bonds.
As alphas are always surrounded by females pondering over them, they hardly stay loyal with their partner. They are known to have a few flings here and there.
3. Emotional Well-being
Alphas have very high expectations from themselves, sometimes even unrealistic; this hurts their emotional well being. They are very aggressive and impulsive. Under the heat of the moment, they often do things that they regret later.
2. WHO WILL FOLLOW?
Maintaining a group or a pack is very important to make and follow a certain set of rules. If the pack doesn’t follow these rules, it will fall apart. Betas are the conformists. They are not capable of leading; therefore, they follow. Although strong, beta males and females do not possess leadership qualities.
- Appearance and Posture
In contrast to alpha, a beta’s body posture would be stoop. Their chins wouldn’t be high, and their voice is mostly high- pitched and loud in an attempt to get noticed. This gives them a cocky image. Being seen as inferior to alpha, they would be full of insecurities and always try to be equivalent to alpha.
- Laidback
Beta males are timid and less aggressive than an alpha male. This gives them a “nice guy” image. They are a lot more grounded and sensitive. They majorly play a supporting role rather than the lead role.
- Emotional
Betas understand emotions well and, therefore, tend to build more relationships and have more friends than alphas. They try to mimic alphas to be the center of attention. They brag about themselves a lot and always keep talking about themselves. They forget to realize that the alpha is the center of attention because a lot is dependent on him, not because he is always in the limelight.
- Complier
Compliance is the major trait of a beta. Betas hardly stand up for themselves or others. They don’t take the pain of getting out of their comfort zone to stand for what they believe. This is another trait that makes them unfit to lead.
Challenges of Being a Beta:
1. Work
Betas are not known for their confidence or courage. Lack of these traits makes them unfit to lead.
2. Relationships
They are usually the second choice for women, and at many points, they are even friend-zoned. It is difficult for them to land a date or influence people. They struggle a lot to get noticed and are in constant need of validation.
3. Emotional Well-being
For most of their lives, betas are overshadowed by alphas. This flourishes many insecurities in them.
4. THE LONE WOLF
Omega is a category in a wolf pack that consists of weak wolves who are like a scapegoat and are always picked on. Betas usually fight with omegas to prove their strength. In return, Omegas sit on their hind legs with their tails in between their legs as a sign of submission. Omegas are considered to be ranked as the lowest in the hierarchy of wolf pack, and there is rarely a female omega.
But in humans, people who tend to withdraw from society and spend more time alone are called the omega or the lone wolf. His speech would be very clear and compact. His habit of speaking less creates a mystery amongst his fellow mates.
- Appearance and Posture
In a wolf pack, and omega would look timid and will be very submissive. It often keeps its tail in between its hind legs as a sign of fear and submission. Even when attacked by betas or alphas, an omega would never retaliate or even defend itself. It would rather sit on its hind legs with its tail in between and will start whimpering. Omega is an underdog in a wolf pack.
On the other hand, among humans, omega is a person who has withdrawn himself from society. He might have been an alpha or a beta at some point in his life, but something happened that made him a loner.
- Forever a Loner
Omegas prefer staying aloof from the group. It is surprising to observe this kind of behavior because both wolves and humans tend to stay in groups. Groups ensure safety and provide a sense of confidence. But for omegas, it is not the case. They are introverts and spend more time alone. They will go a long way to avoid social interactions.
- Smart
It is not easy to survive without a group. No group means less safety and less food. It requires a lot of brain and strength to survive alone. A loner without impeccable survival skills cannot survive in the wild.
- Mysterious
Because they tend to stay alone and not share much information, humans possessing traits of an omega often gain a lot of attention as mysterious, interesting characters who keep a lot of secrets.
Challenges of Being an Omega:
1. Work
Omegas don’t particularly participate in group projects; they won’t give much input even if they do. They will sit in the corner and listen to their other teammates.
2. Relationship
After some time in the relationship, an alpha and a beta female will find their omega partner boring or uninterested in them. Therefore, an omega pairs best with an omega. Because of their loner nature, omegas don’t have many friends.
3. Emotional Well-Being
Being the silent kid in the class, omegas are often picked on and bullied. For most of their lives, they carry a “weird guy” or “mysterious guy” image.
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