The Role of Femininity and Averageness of Voice Pitch in Aesthetic Judgments of Women's Voices

TLDR

Averageness is generally preferred in auditory stimuli and non‑face objects, yet exaggerated feminine traits are favored over averageness in female faces. The study aimed to determine whether men prefer feminine over average voice characteristics by correlating voice pitch with attractiveness ratings. The authors conducted a correlational study linking pitch to attractiveness and a pitch‑manipulation experiment across low, average, and high levels to gauge men's preferences. Results revealed a positive linear relationship between higher voice pitch and attractiveness, and that men consistently preferred raised pitch across all starting levels, indicating a preference for high pitch over average.

Abstract

Although averageness is preferred in auditory stimuli (eg music) and non-face objects (eg wristwatches), exaggerated feminine characteristics are preferred to averageness in female faces. To establish whether or not men prefer femininity in female voices to average characteristics, we conducted a correlational study (study 1) to assess the relationship between voice pitch and attractiveness ratings. We found a positive linear relationship between voice pitch and attractiveness ratings. In study 2 we manipulated pitch in women's voices with low (lower than average), average, and high (higher than average) starting pitches and gauged men's preferences. Men preferred women's voices with raised pitch for all levels of starting pitch. These findings suggest that men prefer high voice pitch to average voice pitch in women's voices.