scholarly journals Voice pitch modulation in human mate choice

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1893) ◽  
pp. 20181634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Pisanski ◽  
Anna Oleszkiewicz ◽  
Justyna Plachetka ◽  
Marzena Gmiterek ◽  
David Reby
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Voice Pitch ◽  
Adult Men ◽  
Human Voice ◽  
Vocal Behaviour ◽  
Vocal Apparatus ◽  
Social Attributions ◽  
Voice Modulation

Inter-individual differences in human fundamental frequency ( F 0, perceived as voice pitch) predict mate quality and reproductive success, and affect listeners' social attributions. Although humans can readily and volitionally manipulate their vocal apparatus and resultant voice pitch, for instance, in the production of speech sounds and singing, little is known about whether humans exploit this capacity to adjust the non-verbal dimensions of their voices during social (including sexual) interactions. Here, we recorded full-length conversations of 30 adult men and women taking part in real speed-dating events and tested whether their voice pitch (mean, range and variability) changed with their personal mate choice preferences and the overall desirability of each dating partner. Within-individual analyses indicated that men lowered the minimum pitch of their voices when interacting with women who were overall highly desired by other men. Men also lowered their mean voice pitch on dates with women they selected as potential mates, particularly those who indicated a mutual preference (matches). Interestingly, although women spoke with a higher and more variable voice pitch towards men they selected as potential mates, women lowered both voice pitch parameters towards men who were most desired by other women and whom they also personally preferred. Between-individual analyses indicated that men in turn preferred women with lower-pitched voices, wherein women's minimum voice pitch explained up to 55% of the variance in men's mate preferences. These results, derived in an ecologically valid setting, show that individual- and group-level mate preferences can interact to affect vocal behaviour, and support the hypothesis that human voice modulation functions in non-verbal communication to elicit favourable judgements and behaviours from others, including potential mates.

scholarly journals Vocal modulation in human mating and competition

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1840) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. Hughes ◽  
David A. Puts
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Human Voice ◽  
Vocal Behaviour ◽  
Courtship Success ◽  
Human Mating ◽  
Voice Modulation ◽  
Romantic Interest

The human voice is dynamic, and people modulate their voices across different social interactions. This article presents a review of the literature examining natural vocal modulation in social contexts relevant to human mating and intrasexual competition. Altering acoustic parameters during speech, particularly pitch, in response to mating and competitive contexts can influence social perception and indicate certain qualities of the speaker. For instance, a lowered voice pitch is often used to exert dominance, display status and compete with rivals. Changes in voice can also serve as a salient medium for signalling a person's attraction to another, and there is evidence to support the notion that attraction and/or romantic interest can be distinguished through vocal tones alone. Individuals can purposely change their vocal behaviour in attempt to sound more attractive and to facilitate courtship success. Several findings also point to the effectiveness of vocal change as a mechanism for communicating relationship status. As future studies continue to explore vocal modulation in the arena of human mating, we will gain a better understanding of how and why vocal modulation varies across social contexts and its impact on receiver psychology. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Voice modulation: from origin and mechanism to social impact (Part I)’.

Dominance and the evolution of sexual dimorphism in human voice pitch

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 283-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Andrew Puts ◽  
Steven J.C. Gaulin ◽  
Katherine Verdolini
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Voice Pitch ◽  
Human Voice

Effects of pleasant and unpleasant ambient odors on human voice pitch

2001 ◽  
Vol 297 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Louis Millot ◽  
Gérard Brand
Keyword(s):  
Voice Pitch ◽  
Human Voice

scholarly journals Individual differences in human voice pitch are preserved from speech to screams, roars and pain cries

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 191642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Pisanski ◽  
Jordan Raine ◽  
David Reby
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Considerable Variability ◽  
Voice Pitch ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Human Voice ◽  
Social Traits ◽  
Nonverbal Vocalizations ◽  
Acoustic Analyses ◽  
Socially Relevant

Fundamental frequency ( F 0, perceived as voice pitch) predicts sex and age, hormonal status, mating success and a range of social traits, and thus functions as an important biosocial marker in modal speech. Yet, the role of F 0 in human nonverbal vocalizations remains unclear, and given considerable variability in F 0 across call types, it is not known whether F 0 cues to vocalizer attributes are shared across speech and nonverbal vocalizations. Here, using a corpus of vocal sounds from 51 men and women, we examined whether individual differences in F 0 are retained across neutral speech, valenced speech and nonverbal vocalizations (screams, roars and pain cries). Acoustic analyses revealed substantial variability in F 0 across vocal types, with mean F 0 increasing as much as 10-fold in screams compared to speech in the same individual. Despite these extreme pitch differences, sexual dimorphism was preserved within call types and, critically, inter-individual differences in F 0 correlated across vocal types ( r = 0.36–0.80) with stronger relationships between vocal types of the same valence (e.g. 38% of the variance in roar F 0 was predicted by aggressive speech F 0). Our results indicate that biologically and socially relevant indexical cues in the human voice are preserved in simulated valenced speech and vocalizations, including vocalizations characterized by extreme F 0 modulation, suggesting that voice pitch may function as a reliable individual and biosocial marker across disparate communication contexts.

scholarly journals Female and male visually based mate preferences are consistent with reproductive isolation between populations of the Lake Malawi endemic Labeotropheus fuelleborni

2010 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Pauers ◽  
Timothy J. Ehlinger ◽  
Jeffrey S. McKinnon
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Courtship Behavior ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Lake Malawi ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Haplochromine Cichlids

Abstract Sexual selection via female mate choice is thought to have played a key role in the speciation of haplochromine cichlids, but a dominant role for visual signals in such processes has lately been called into question. In addition, the possible role of male mating preferences in haplochromine speciation has been little studied. We studied patterns of both female and male mate choice, based exclusively on visual signals, in order to evaluate potential reproductive isolation between two populations of the Lake Malawi haplochromine Labeotropheus fuelleborni. In the first experiment, females were allowed to choose between two males, one from the same population and the other allopatric with respect to the female. Females in this experiment responded more frequently to males from their own population. Similarly, the males in these trials displayed more frequently when presented with females of their own population. In the second experiment, a female was allowed to choose between two males, either both from her own population or both allopatric. In these trials, both males and females from the Katale population interacted significantly more frequently in settings in which all three individuals were from the same population (“same-population trios”), and those from the Chipoka population showed a similar trend. Thus, patterns in both male and female courtship behavior suggest that visual signals contribute to at least incipient reproductive isolation between populations of L. fuelleborni.

scholarly journals Major histocompatibility complex-associated odour preferences and human mate choice: near and far horizons

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1800) ◽  
pp. 20190260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Havlíček ◽  
Jamie Winternitz ◽  
S. Craig Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Major Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Mate Selection ◽  
Adaptive Immune System ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Olfactory Communication ◽  
Major Histocompatibility ◽  
Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Meta Analyses

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a core part of the adaptive immune system. As in other vertebrate taxa, it may also affect human chemical communication via odour-based mate preferences, with greater attraction towards MHC-dissimilar partners. However, despite some well-known findings, the available evidence is equivocal and made complicated by varied approaches to quantifying human mate choice. To address this, we here conduct comprehensive meta-analyses focusing on studies assessing: (i) genomic mate selection, (ii) relationship satisfaction, (iii) odour preference, and (iv) all studies combined. Analysis of genomic studies reveals no association between MHC-dissimilarity and mate choice in actual couples; however, MHC effects appear to be independent of the genomic background. The effect of MHC-dissimilarity on relationship satisfaction was not significant, and we found evidence for publication bias in studies on this area. There was also no significant association between MHC-dissimilarity and odour preferences. Finally, combining effect sizes from all genomic, relationship satisfaction, odour preference and previous mate choice studies into an overall estimate showed no overall significant effect of MHC-similarity on human mate selection. Based on these findings, we make a set of recommendations for future studies, focusing both on aspects that should be implemented immediately and those that lurk on the far horizon. We need larger samples with greater geographical and cultural diversity that control for genome-wide similarity. We also need more focus on mechanisms of MHC-associated odour preferences and on MHC-associated pregnancy loss. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Olfactory communication in humans’.

scholarly journals Romantic love: a mammalian brain system for mate choice

2006 ◽  
Vol 361 (1476) ◽  
pp. 2173-2186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen E Fisher ◽  
Arthur Aron ◽  
Lucy L Brown
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Metabolic Energy ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Romantic Attraction ◽  
Attraction System

Mammals and birds regularly express mate preferences and make mate choices. Data on mate choice among mammals suggest that this behavioural ‘attraction system’ is associated with dopaminergic reward pathways in the brain. It has been proposed that intense romantic love, a human cross-cultural universal, is a developed form of this attraction system. To begin to determine the neural mechanisms associated with romantic attraction in humans, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study 17 people who were intensely ‘in love’. Activation specific to the beloved occurred in the brainstem right ventral tegmental area and right postero-dorsal body of the caudate nucleus. These and other results suggest that dopaminergic reward and motivation pathways contribute to aspects of romantic love. We also used fMRI to study 15 men and women who had just been rejected in love. Preliminary analysis showed activity specific to the beloved in related regions of the reward system associated with monetary gambling for uncertain large gains and losses, and in regions of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex associated with theory of mind, obsessive/compulsive behaviours and controlling anger. These data contribute to our view that romantic love is one of the three primary brain systems that evolved in avian and mammalian species to direct reproduction. The sex drive evolved to motivate individuals to seek a range of mating partners; attraction evolved to motivate individuals to prefer and pursue specific partners; and attachment evolved to motivate individuals to remain together long enough to complete species-specific parenting duties. These three behavioural repertoires appear to be based on brain systems that are largely distinct yet interrelated, and they interact in specific ways to orchestrate reproduction, using both hormones and monoamines. Romantic attraction in humans and its antecedent in other mammalian species play a primary role: this neural mechanism motivates individuals to focus their courtship energy on specific others, thereby conserving valuable time and metabolic energy, and facilitating mate choice.

scholarly journals Sexual selection on color and behavior within and between cichlid populations: Implications for speciation

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Pauers ◽  
Jeffrey S. Mckinnon
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Separate Experiment ◽  
Color Patterns ◽  
Male Behavior ◽  
Female Population ◽  
Different Color

Abstract Sexual selection is widely viewed as playing a central role in haplochromine cichlid speciation. Hypothetically, once divergent mate preferences evolve among populations of these fishes, reproductive isolation follows and the populations begin to behave as different species. Various studies have examined patterns of assortative mating among species and sometimes populations, but few have examined variation in directional preferences, especially among populations of the same species. We investigated mate choice behavior in two populations of Labeotropheus fuelleborni, a Lake Malawi endemic. We test whether mating preferences between populations are based on the same traits and in the same direction as preferences within populations. We examine the potential contributions of two classes of trait, color patterns and behaviors, to reproductive isolation. When females chose between either two males of their own population, or two from another, female preferences were generally similar (for the female population) across the two contexts. Mate choice patterns differed between (female) populations for a measure of color, but only modestly for male behavior. In a separate experiment we simultaneously offered females a male of their own population and a male from a different population. In these trials, females consistently preferred males from their own population, which were also the males that displayed more frequently than their opponents, but not necessarily those with color traits suggested to be most attractive in the previous experiment. Thus directional preferences for chroma and related aspects of color may be important when females are presented with males of otherwise similar phenotypes, but may play little role in mediating assortative mating among populations with substantially different color patterns. A preference for male behavior could play some role in speciation if males preferentially court same-population females, as we have observed for the populations studied herein.

scholarly journals Male mate preferences in mutual mate choice: finches modulate their songs across and within male–female interactions

2014 ◽  
Vol 97 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abbie Heinig ◽  
Santosh Pant ◽  
Jeffery L. Dunning ◽  
Aaron Bass ◽  
Zachary Coburn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Mutual Mate Choice ◽  
Male Mate
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