Attractive Voice Makes One Look Competent, Kind and Trustworthy [Study]

People recognized long ago that there is a tone of voice that is alluring and makes a person sexier. But do some speakers have an unfair advantage over others?

This "bedroom voice," which the French calls voix de chambre à voucher, gives some speakers their power of seduction, according to BBC Future.

Indeed, not all people possess attractive voices and those who have appears to be sexier. The fact that these rules are almost universal reveals an important part of human evolution.

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The tone of Voice: Do Some People Have An Unfair Advantage?

Attractive Voice Creates Halo Effect

People sometimes judge others with their tone of voice. Often, it creates a halo effect, where people generalize one characteristic of a person as either good or bad. For instance, speakers with attractive voices are seen as competent, kind, and trustworthy.

Moreover, sexual preference for men with deep voices has been recorded throughout the history of indigenous peoples from the Amazon to Tanzania and other Western and non-Western countries.

In modern times, politicians with deeper voices are seen as more serious and electable regardless of whether they are a man or a woman. Also, people from both sexes with low-pitch voices are more likely to be hired. According to BBC Future, perhaps it pays to lower the octave a pitch or two to be seen as a competent speaker.

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Voice Pitch Linked to Testosterone Levels

According to a study entitled "High testosterone levels predict low voice pitch among men," voice pitch is linked to testosterone levels that make men look stronger and more sexually desirable.

For instance, Tanzanian hunter-gatherers use their deep voice as a proxy for other skills that require testosterone. It gives a clue as to how capable a hunter the speaker is and how well he can provide for his family.

Furthermore, men's adult testosterone levels are determined by their exposure to their mother's androgen hormones during the 8-24 weeks of pregnancy, suggesting that it plays an important role in the reproductive success of the man in the future.

Also, men's preference for women is based on the pitch of the voice wherein those who have lower pitch are seen purely in terms of reproductive success. So for men, it would be more beneficial for them to look for women with low pitch voices.

Can People Adjust Their Voices to Sound Sexier?

Although people might not notice, they change their pitch of voice towards the voice being used by the people they are talking to when having a good conversation with someone. In other words, people match their tone to the tone of the other person. This is called prosodic entrainment.

But for those who find others attractive, the opposite is true. Men lower their pitch while women turn up their pitch of voice, according to a study entitled "Birds of a Feather Flock Together But Opposites Attract! On the Interaction of F0 Entrainment, Perceived Attractiveness, and Conversational Quality in Dating Conversations."

That means lowering or raising the pitch of voice might be a sign of how attractive a person may think of their date but also makes the other person more attracted to them. In short, people can manipulate others by their pitch of voice.