Dominant baboons, the most 'confident' members of the tribe, are the least stress-prone. In short, the alphas of the group are cool, confident leaders who are able to relax about the place in the hierarchy. Low-stress, low-testosterone males were also more likely to show affection through social grooming while high-stress, high-testosterone males, just like their human counterparts, were more apt to suffer from stress-related diseases and exhibit aggressive and anxious behaviors (Sapolsky 167).

Sapolsky came to the Kenyan baboon tribe assuming to find some commonalities between the animal kingdom and primates. However, establishing intimacy with the baboons was more difficult than he anticipated, and at first he found himself in the uncomfortable position of shooting darts with anesthetizing blow guns. To compare the stress hormones between the different baboons required Sapolsky to behave almost like the type of big game hunter he despised. First, he had to watch his subjects...
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