Thats the funniest part about this belief. The pop version is not even accurate to the original research, just a gross misinterpretation. The original bogus hierarchy started with the alpha couple, who are supposed to be the only reproductive couple of the pack. The rest of the population was simply defined by feeding hierarchy, who ate first. This might sound plausible but it only makes sense when you live in a fenced enclosure and there's only like 8 of you, no den space for offspring and you can't leave to find non-family mates. But then people made up a bunch of zodiac style personalities for this shit, and they're just as scientific.