Sensory Exploitation, Sexual Dimorphism, and Human Voice Pitch

Feinberg, David R.; Jones, Benedict C.; Armstrong, Marie

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2018.09.007

Cited by 20 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…It may also be relevant that while roars might be primarily interpreted as intentions (e.g., as affective state of anger), utterances might be interpreted primarily as characteristic of the individual (e.g., as a level of dominance). Alternatively, the association between some acoustic parameters and perceived formidability might be the result of sensory exploitation and have only limited predictive value for actual formidability (Feinberg et al, 2018). We also found that the main acoustic predictors of formidability in roars are intensity, HNR, duration, and to some extent also fundamental frequency.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Roar of a Champion: Loudness and Voice Pitch Predict Perceived Fighting Ability but Not Success in MMA Fighters

et al. 2019

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Historically, antagonistic interactions have been a crucial determinant of access to various fitness-affecting resources. In many vertebrate species, information about relative fighting ability is conveyed, among other things, by vocalization. Previous research found that men's upper-body strength can be assessed from voice. In the present study, we tested formidability perception of intimidating vocalization (roars) and a short utterance produced by amateur male MMA fighters attending the amateur European Championships in relation to their physical fitness indicators and fighting success. We also tested acoustic predictors of the perceived formidability. We found that body height, weight, and physical fitness failed to predict perceived formidability either from speech or from the roars. Similarly, there was no significant association between formidability of the roars and utterances and actual fighting success. Perceived formidability was predicted mainly by roars' and utterances' intensity and roars' harmonics-to-noise ratio and duration. Interestingly, fundamental frequency (F 0 ) predicted formidability ratings in both roars and utterances but in an opposite manner, so that low F 0 utterances but high F 0 roars were rated as more formidable. Our results suggest that formidability perception is primarily driven by intensity and duration of the vocalizations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Roar of a Champion: Loudness and Voice Pitch Predict Perceived Fighting Ability but Not Success in MMA Fighters

et al. 2019

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“…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 . Given the weak correspondence between f o and body size, some have argued that f o is purely deceptive and is not an honest indicator of physical dominance 27,28,131 . Others have suggested that f o may reliably correlate with other salient speaker characteristics such as status, threat, and dominance, and that these dimensions may overlap with, and hence intrude onto impressions of, size 46 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Schild

Aung

Cárdenas

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Sexual selection appears to have shaped the acoustic signals of diverse species, including humans. Deep, resonant vocalizations in particular may function in attracting mates and/or intimidating same-sex competitors. Evidence for these adaptive functions in human males derives predominantly from perception studies in which vocal acoustic parameters were manipulated using specialist software. This approach affords tight experimental control but provides little ecological validity, especially when the target acoustic parameters vary naturally with other parameters. Furthermore, such experimental studies provide no information about what acoustic variables indicate about the speaker—that is, why attention to vocal cues may be favored in intrasexual and intersexual contexts. Using voice recordings with high ecological validity from 160 male speakers and biomarkers of condition, including baseline cortisol and testosterone levels, body morphology and strength, we tested a series of pre-registered hypotheses relating to both perceptions and underlying condition of the speaker. We found negative curvilinear and negative linear relationships between male fundamental frequency (fo) and female perceptions of attractiveness and male perceptions of dominance. In addition, cortisol and testosterone negatively interacted in predicting fo, and strength and measures of body size negatively predicted formant frequencies (Pf). Meta-analyses of the present results and those from two previous samples confirmed that fonegatively predicted testosterone only among men with lower cortisol levels. This research offers empirical evidence of possible evolutionary functions for attention to men’s vocal characteristics in contexts of sexual selection.

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“…However, in information-rich contexts, fo only explains around 3-4% of the variance in perceived dominance (cf. meta-analysis in Aung & Puts, 2020), and pitch is a poor indicator of physical dominance (Armstrong et al, 2019;Feinberg et al, 2018Feinberg et al, , 2019. Meta-analyses indicate that pitch explains less than 2% of the variance in men's body size, whereas formant frequencies explain up to 10% of the variance in men's body size (Pisanski et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exogenous testosterone decreases men's sensitivity to vocal cues of male dominance

Han

Watkins

Nan

et al. 2021

Hormones and Behavior

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Assessing dominance is important for effective social interactions, and prior research suggests that testosterone is associated with men's dominance perceptions. The present study tested for a causal effect of exogenous testosterone on men's sensitivity to vocal cues of other men's dominance, an important parameter in male-male competition across species. One hundred and thirty-nine Chinese men received a single dose (150 mg) of testosterone or placebo gel in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-participant design. Participants reported their own dominance and judged other men's dominance from voices. Men's dominance sensitivity was significantly weaker in the testosterone group compared to those in the placebo group.Moreover, men's dominance sensitivity was negatively associated with their self-reported dominance in our Chinese sample, consistent with findings from Western populations. These results indicate that exogenous testosterone has a causal effect in decreasing men's dominance sensitivity, consistent with the Challenge Hypothesis, suggesting that the fluctuation of testosterone concentration mediates individuals' behaviors. Additionally, the present study could motivate further work on vocal assessment in the context of competition in humans and other species.

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Sensory Exploitation, Sexual Dimorphism, and Human Voice Pitch

Cited by 20 publications

References 16 publications

Roar of a Champion: Loudness and Voice Pitch Predict Perceived Fighting Ability but Not Success in MMA Fighters

Roar of a Champion: Loudness and Voice Pitch Predict Perceived Fighting Ability but Not Success in MMA Fighters

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

Exogenous testosterone decreases men's sensitivity to vocal cues of male dominance

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