How voice signals sexual attractiveness

Deep male voices and high-pitched female voices are perceived as more attractive because listeners gauge the speaker`s body size from the frequency of their voice, according to a new research.

Deep male voices and high-pitched female voices are perceived as more attractive because listeners gauge the speaker`s body size from the frequency of their voice, according to a new research.

Studies of animals and birds reveal that listeners can perceive a caller`s body size and intension based on the frequency, voice quality and formant spacing of a call.

For example, low frequency growls are more likely to indicate larger body size, dominance or a potential attack, while higher frequency and pure-tone-like sounds suggest smaller size, submissiveness and fear.

Yi Xu from University College London (UK) and colleagues tested whether a similar principle applied to human vocal attractiveness by asking male volunteers to listen to a female voice that was systematically altered for pitch, voice quality and formant spacing to signal a smaller body size.

Female listeners heard a male voice that had been similarly altered to indicate a larger body size.

But surprisingly, female listeners also preferred male voices that are breathy, which presumably softened the aggressiveness associated with a large body size.

The researchers concluded that despite the development of complex language, human vocal interactions still employ certain animal instincts.

The study was published in the open access journal PLOS ONE.