Re:Study of Alpha Male Baboons Shows It’s Stressful at the Top
by jhamburger on Friday July 15, 2011 @01:14PM
(#2768214)
It's not the total opposite. This article is saying that the top AND the bottom of society are both very stressful, and those right below the top are in the least stressful position. Personally, this does jive with my experience in human society. Who struggles more with drug abuse, marital problems, etc, the "rich and famous" or the "reasonably well off and relatively popular"?
Re:Study of Alpha Male Baboons Shows It’s Stressful at the Top
by mattsidesinger on Friday July 15, 2011 @03:26PM
(#2768709)
I recently watched "Killer Stress", a National Geographic special, on Netflix. Robert Sapolsky (cited in the article and an awesome crazy-haried guy that lives with the Baboons) talks about how it is stressful to be at the bottom. By taking blood samples, he is able to measure stress levels.
Sapolsky sounds liks a stand up guy. If you read the article, Sapolsky does not discredit the new findings, "The study is both impressive and surprising, said Robert Sapolsky".
In other animal studies the pecking order seemed to mimic the amount of stress each animal was under: more pecking; more stress.
One interesting human study showed that the most stressed person in large company was the doorman. They theorised that he had total responsibility for the safety of the building but practically no power.
I'll look for the sources