Friday, March 4, 2011

Can you predict your mate will cheat by their voice?

When choosing a partner, women believe the lower the man's voice, the more likely he's going to cheat. Conversely, men think a woman with a higher voice is more likely to be unfaithful, researchers have found.

The study, published in the latest edition of the online journal Evolutionary Psychology is the first to examine the link between voice pitch and perceived infidelity and offers insight into the evolution of the human voice and how we choose our mates.

"In terms of sexual strategy, we found that men and women will use voice pitch as a warning sign of future betrayal. So the more attractive the voice—a higher pitch for women and lower pitch for men—the more likely the chances he or she will cheat," says Jillian O'Connor, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University and lead author of the study.

"Infidelity is costly with the emotional impact, financial costs and potential loss of the family unit. But this suggests that through the evolutionary process, we have learned ways to avoid partners who may be unfaithful as a protection mechanism," she says.

Participants in the study were asked to listen to two versions of recorded clips from a male voice and a female voice, which were electronically manipulated to be both higher and lower in pitch. They were then asked which one, from each pair, was more likely to cheat sexually on their romantic partner.

"The reason voice pitch influences perceptions of cheating is likely due to the relationship between pitch, hormones and infidelity," explains David Feinberg, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour and advisor on the study. "Men with higher testosterone levels have lower pitched voices, and women with higher estrogen levels have higher pitched voices. High levels of these hormones are associated with adulterous behaviour and our findings indicate individuals are somewhat aware of the link and may use this in their search for a romantic partner."

via Can you predict your mate will cheat by their voice?.

3 comments:

Mirlen101 said...

Think about it ! If your woman sounds like a man , are you going to suspect them of infidelity ? My first thought is that she is on the masculine side , so not as many men would want her ;-) And if your boyfriend sounds like a girl ! Ya not a lot of women are going to be jumping on that !
According to Darwin we should have mostly beautiful big breasted women right ? And women should mostly have handsome , muscular , well hung men right ? Something has gone terribly wrong here ! ;-O I'm not saying Darwinisms wrong . I'm saying we should have more beautiful big breasted women ! ;-) When's that cloning thing going to be ready anyway ! ?

Xeno said...

Mirlen, I hope you find a real life BBW soon. Sounds like you need to get out more? Luckily for the species, what men like varies more than you suggest and what women consider attractive varies even more than men.

Mirlen101 said...

Apparently ! ;-)
Actually I was joking ! I'm not that big of a breast man . Not that important . My concern is at the other end ! ;-) If they don't carry a nice trunk . They be packin ! ;-)