A house of cards: bias in perception of body size mediates the relationship between voice pitch and perceptions of dominance

Abstract

Theories of the evolution of low voice pitch in men are based on the idea that voice pitch is an honest indicator of physical dominance, but relationships among pitch, physical body size and strength among same sex adults voice are weak and unstable. Nevertheless, judgements of body size based on voice pitch are the result of perceptual bias that low frequencies sound large. If dominance judgements are based in part on perception of size, then dominance perception could also be the result of perceptual bias. Thus, we tested if the relationship between voice pitch and judgements of height mediated the relationship between voice pitch and dominance judgements. The relationship between voice pitch and perceived height fully mediated the relationship between voice pitch and dominance. This was driven by the portion of variance that was inaccurate in height perception (i.e. residual error), and not conditional upon actual height, or perceptions thereof. Collectively our results demonstrate that the relationship between voice pitch and perceived dominance is not based on observation of real world relationships between physical size and voice pitch, but rather based on a bias to perceive low pitched voices as large people. Hence, the relationship between dominance and voice pitch is coincidental rather than causal. Thus, since the relationship between physical dominance and voice pitch is conditional upon the relationship between a biased perception of body size, voice pitch is not an honest indicator of physical dominance. Consequently, the evolution of low pitch in men's voices cannot be explained by selection for accurate dominance cues.

Low fundamental and formant frequencies predict fighting ability among male mixed martial arts fighters

“…More puzzling, however, is the abundance of evidence suggesting that listeners readily use f o as a cue for inferring a variety of traits even within sex, attributing greater size, strength, and formidability to adult male voices with lower f o 12 , 14 , 18 , 19 . Yet, scholars debate the accuracy of these perceptions 11 , 17 , 18 , 20 , 21 . According to one hypothesis, attention to men’s f o is the perceptual by-product of a broader tendency to associate low-frequency sounds with physically larger sources.…”

“…According to one hypothesis, attention to men’s f o is the perceptual by-product of a broader tendency to associate low-frequency sounds with physically larger sources. Hence, listeners may perceive low frequencies to be intimidating even when f o is unrelated to the size of the sound producer 18 , 21 . However, lower f o has been found to predict men’s status, as well as mating and reproductive success 17 .…”

Linking human male vocal parameters to perceptions, body morphology, strength and hormonal profiles in contexts of sexual selection

“…Although only one paper 5 besides the current one has reported the specific interaction effect of testosterone and cortisol on male f o , the meta-analysis reported here suggests that the interaction is robust. There is widespread agreement 5,11,27,40,46 that low male f o evolved to exaggerate apparent size by leveraging a predisposition to perceive low frequencies as emanating from large sound sources. Phylogenetic reconstruction suggests that relatively male f o evolved in the common ancestor of the catarrhine primates after their divergence from platyrrhines approximately 43.5mya 5 .…”

“…Costly signaling theory (originally proposed by 22,23 , but see 24 ) which concerns the transmission of reliable information between signalers and receivers, is a useful theoretical tool to answer this question and helps us understand the maintenance of signal honesty via receiver-independent (production costs, developmental costs, maintenance costs) and receiver-dependent costs (e.g., retaliation costs, vulnerability costs; see 25,26 for reviews). Recently, some authors 27,28 have pointed out weak receiver-independent costs associated with men's f o and concluded that men's f o does not signal formidability. Others [29][30][31] suggest that men's f o is likely to be partly honest.…”

Is vocal attractiveness a cue of young adult women’s susceptibility to infectious illnesses?

“…The sound pressure level of all voices will be amplitude normalized to 70 dB using the root mean squared method (following Armstrong et al, 2019). Voice recordings will then be presented via headphones and all raters will rate each voice individually on attractiveness using a 1 (very unattractive) to 7 (very attractive) scale.…”