Ok John, I read the post and it seems to me that the assertions are plausible to a point if you want to look at human interactions in terms of wolves. However, we are not wolves and have a far wider range of motivations than they do, and a much more complex social structure. Yes we may note certain behavioral similarities in humans as compared to animals, but like I said, the reasons behind them are often much more complex. Where the wolf pack analalogy fails is that a wolf pack is basically a simple society. Few leaders and mostly followers. Human society is much larger and there are many levels or pecking orders if you will. A man may be the top of the pecking order in his home, while at work; he is the bottom of the social and/or professional order there. Meanwhile at the local club he is somewhere in the middle and at his church he is the senior ranking deacon. Couple this to the realization that we all tend to rationalize our place(s) in the scheme of things and that most people tend to see themselves in the most favorable light.
What our story teller describes is an interesting tale of establishing dominance through intimidation. Some people might call that bullying. Others would simply see it as playing the power game. I simply see it as being all too human. People, as a product of evolution, are geared towards survival. Being on top is one of the very best ways to survive. The person on top is rarely the first casulty in any conflict. A good example of this would be to look and see who is suffering the most in the recent economic downturn. Certainly not the "alpha" people at the top. Hell no! they got Congress to bail them out while they still collected bonus checks for doing a piss-poor job.
Getting back to SandraB's story of dominance: take note of who was his "victim" in this power play. A woman. In our culture, even though women have made great strides in recent years in asserting themselves, it is still for the most part a man's world, particularly in most business settings. The whole idea of his about an alpha male will always dominate an alpha female is total crap. Take that guy out of his chosen pond and put him in a pond dominated by women and see if he could dominate all the alpha females there. Men recognize there are places where they hold no sway and keep a low profile there. That is why they are so secretly pleased when a man conquers a recognized female domain. Remember the movie/book:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ? If you haven't read/seen it, you should. It deals a lot with respect issues also which should appeal to you.
Now, as to me doing research on this topic for you, I think not. There are a lot of "pop" theories out there on social interactions and the "battle of the sexes" and I see no reason to give this one much consideration. I caught your statement that you only like light reading and tech manuals. I think you are missing out on a lot with that attitude. For example I really believe you should read
The Prince as referred to in your thread. It is online:
http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm and is not all that long. Think of it as a tech manual on respect and fear. I am not saying you or anyone should agree wholeheartedly with Machiavelli's views but it is a good thing to be aware of what it is all about. There is a reason why it is required reading in most institutions of higher learning, particularly those geared toward producing business and political leaders. Then you should read Miyamoto Musashi's book
The Five Rings which is another required read for MBAs.