Keep an eye out at this World Cup for a player being acknowledged by a manager or captain with a firm pat on the back of the head. For example, central defenders will reward a colleague who has cleared a tricky cross with a ‘tap’, and managers will also acknowledge a player they have substituted in this fashion. Two competing explanations for the motives that underpin this act feature below:

Dr Nathaniel Delaware, Lecturer in Clinical Ethnology, MIT
It is fascinating that ‘the tap’ gesture is only actualised in human social interaction during the game of soccer: this localised manifestation suggests that it is an evolutionary relic, reserved for when competition is at an extreme level. Intense open competition is something that our distant ancestors would have encountered regularly, so it is no surprise that the ‘firm tap on the back of the head’ reward gesture is prevalent amongst many primate species. When we observe Bonobo apes, for example, the alpha male will often reward another male in this way. A skilled and powerful ape would only ever need to attack a rival from the front. So in tapping a colleague on the back of the head the dominant male is basically saying:

You are the alpha male, so I would need to attack you from behind.

The alpha is not really relinquishing their high position however – they are actually demonstrating that they have the capacity to momentarily raise another’s status, without the prevailing order being disturbed. This of course cements the alpha’s status at the head of the group. So when you see a team’s captain or manager greeting a player in this way at the World Cup, you know why they are doing it!

Dr Susan Charlatan, Institute for the Public Understanding of Memetics
Whilst ‘the tap’ is undoubtedly utilised as a reward gesture on the football pitch, it is delivered at a level of force that would normally be associated with chastisement or attack. Studies of elephant seals have proven that this act serves the purpose of rewarding a fellow group member, whilst reinforcing entrenched power dynamics. Elephant seals will head-butt a fellow male on the back of the head as a gesture of reward or gratitude. However, they are not momentarily relinquishing alpha male status: dominant elephant seals are symbolically (and to some extent literally) pushing the junior group member back to the outside of the social circle. The back of the head focus is significant as it is stating that the junior colleague is not someone who has to be dealt with in an upfront or equitable way. The alpha can do what he likes behind the back of the beta, such as copulating with the choice females of the harem. This gesture is therefore saying:

Well done, but don’t forget who’s the boss - and who gets the girls!

So when you see a team’s captain or manager greeting a player in this way at the World Cup, you know why they are doing it!

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