Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

The social dominance hierarchy tends to be a pyramid rather than a totem pole, so those farther down feel the weight of everyone above them, and those near the top have more control over their lives so tend to be happier and more satisfied, at least that's what it looks like to everyone underneath. The very nature of a dominance hierarchy means that individuals low in the pyramid far exceed in number those higher up, and fairness plays no part.

Ranking in the dominance hierarchy actually affects body chemistry, and because of testosterone, men predominate at the higher levels, especially since males are evolutionarily defined by dominance, because status literally controls a man's quality of life and even how long they live. The farther a male is up in the hierarchy, uncertainty and threat relatively decrease, decreasing stress, improving both mental and physical health. It's for this reason that higher-ups demean those below them, which suppresses the underling's status, affecting their mental outlook to cause them to stop fighting upward. Democracy artificially overturns the hierarchy; it's unclear how this will affect society as a whole; men seem to be doing poorly, but women, and those traditionally low in the hierarchy are doing much better. Since it's biological, it seems likely that further erosion of the hierarchy, and subsequent suppression of basic male drive, is not going to end well.