Sex-related communicative functions of voice spectral energy in human chorusing

Abstract

Music is a human communicative art whose evolutionary origins may lie in capacities that support cooperation and/or competition. A mixed account favouring simultaneous cooperation and competition draws on analogous interactive displays produced by collectively signalling non-human animals (e.g. crickets and frogs). In these displays, rhythmically coordinated calls serve as a beacon whereby groups of males ‘cooperatively’ attract potential female mates, while the likelihood of each male competitively attracting an actual mate depends on the precedence of his signal. Human behaviour consistent with the mixed account was previously observed in a renowned boys choir, where the basses—the oldest boys with the deepest voices—boosted their acoustic prominence by increasing energy in a high-frequency band of the vocal spectrum when girls were in an otherwise male audience. The current study tested female and male sensitivity and preferences for this subtle vocal modulation in online listening tasks. Results indicate that while female and male listeners are similarly sensitive to enhanced high-spectral energy elicited by the presence of girls in the audience, only female listeners exhibit a reliable preference for it. Findings suggest that human chorusing is a flexible form of social communicative behaviour that allows simultaneous group cohesion and sexually motivated competition.

How music-induced emotions affect sexual attraction: evolutionary implications

“…Future challenges include the study of other facets of musicality besides instrumental music, such as singing ( Grewe et al, 2009 ; Valentova et al, 2019 ; Keller et al, 2023 ), dance ( Weege et al, 2015 ; Garfinkel, 2018 ; Fink et al, 2021 ), and beat synchronization ( Ravignani, 2018 ). Different sexual selection mechanisms may have shaped these various aspects of musicality to different degrees.…”

“…Future studies should aim to show which aspects of musicality can solidly be ascribed to either natural or sexual selection and which ones cannot. In this process, as long as they are all grounded in natural selection, distinct theories may be easier to subsume under an overarching theory ( Savage et al, 2021 ), but as soon as sexual and natural selection mechanisms both play a role, theory building becomes more challenging ( Keller et al, 2023 ). Another related challenge will be to develop explanatory theories that describe the specific evolutionary mechanisms involved in the emergence of musicality, along with their respective time-scales (see also Novaes and Natividade, 2023 ).…”

“…Since arousal (affective route) and complexity (honest signal) are often interrelated in music (see Marin and Leder, 2013 ), further studies using different musical styles and experimental paradigms are necessary. Studies should also incorporate a wider range of physical mate cues ( Groyecka et al, 2017 ), such as the human voice, and examine performer-listener interactions given recent observations suggesting intrasexual competition in human chorusing ( Keller et al, 2023 ). Overall, Marin’s findings are in agreement with Darwin’s (1871 , p. 880) claim that “the progenitors of man, either the males or females or both sexes, […] endeavoured to charm each other with musical notes and rhythm”.…”