Another useless study was recently released that announced, “Women favor men with deep voices.” Robin Thicke and Michael Jackson, sorry!
It’s well known that many women are attracted to men with deep, Barry White-like voices. Part of my ex’s allure was his resonant, radio-announcer voice (he had a radio show for a few years). Another radio-news-anchor friend was a babe magnet — women fell for his voice. And one suitor melted me before we even met by wooing me on the phone with his baritone pitch.
We now have research on this from David Feinberg, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He and his colleagues recently published their findings in Biology Letters, concluding that “men with low-voice pitch have higher reproductive success and more children born to them.” Their thesis is based on studying the Hadza tribe of Tanzania which is a hunter-gatherer culture — one of the last. Since they have no modern birth control it was easy to determine that the men who have lower-pitched voices have more children.
In previous studies, Feinberg found that women find men with deeper voices to be more attractive, judging them to be more dominant, older, healthier and more masculine sounding. There is some speculation that women equate deeper voices with more testosterone, thus assuming the man will be more aggressive hunting and be a good provider for her and her children.
So the researchers surmise a deep-voiced man is more appealing to his woman, thus she is willing to copulate more often, spawning more offspring. Since this study was done with only 49 men between the ages of 18 and 55, there may have been other factors not included. We don’t know how many of the 49 men had the coveted lower-pitched voices, so let’s say half, 25. What if a number of these men had more sex because they were nicer to their woman, brought her more food so she’s happy with him, had sex with more women, choose younger, more fertile women, knew how to please her, etc. The researchers are placing a lot of emphasis on one characteristic.
And if we believe in natural selection, the men with deep-voice genes would have passed these on to their offspring, and we would now be living in James-Earl-Jones– land. Nearly every man would have a resonant voice.
While I am casting dispersions on the summations of this study, intuitively I believe they are right — at least for midlife men and women. I’m sure younger women are more drawn to high-pitched voices than middle-aged women. While a falsetto can be entertaining from a singer, if a man’s speaking voice is that high, most women won’t find that enticing.
And what women’s voices do men find appealing? Feinberg’s previous studies showed men favor women with higher-pitch voices, saying they found these women more attractive, subordinate, feminine, healthier and younger sounding.
What have you noticed about a man’s voice tone and your attraction to him? Do you find yourself drawn to men with lower voices, even if they aren’t as attractive to you in other ways? And men, do you purposely lower your voice on the first call to communicate your masculinity?
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13 responses to “Are you drawn to deep-voiced men?”
Hmmm……
Well, hearing a deep male voice on-air or in music is attractive to me- that inner shivery thing.
But, I have never had much in the way of face to face attraction because of a deep voice.
Not sure what the deal is with the dicotomy.
If they can and do drop their voice an octave when speaking intimately to me, now THAT is sexy and attractive 🙂
My experience as a female seems to contradict the part about men preferring the higher pitched female voices:
I don’t have a high or really low pitched voice myself, but it does vary widely when I talk depending on circumstances.
Generally when leaving messages it is a slightly lower level, a firm and slightly breathy tone with clear diction, and only turns up slightly at the end.
I was told about 15 years ago by a business associate at another firm that he had listened to my vm for him about 5 times while waiting for me to call him back again; I was very puzzled and asked if I had been unclear in what data I needed, and he admitted that the sound of my voice was very attractive to him.
I was startled and embarassed, but checked later with friends, family and co-workers and they ALL agreed that on the phone it’s alluring- as in 1 900 sex by the minute alluring.
It took about a dozen tries to record a office number vm that was at least acceptable after finding this out- had a female and male co-worker listen and vote yea or nay each try until success, and have had the same struggle with every new number I have to do it for.
I have found this to be embarassing when I can’t even leave a businesslike message without having a male recipient respond inappropriately- just because I can’t hear what others hear in my voice.
…..I remember reading somewhere, that, actor, Richard Burton, would stretch his vocals, just to make his voice deep, out in the hills, in the outskirts of the city…
I don’t know about male voices, but my observation is that there is a definite correlation (not 100%, of course) between the pitch of female voices and their physical attractiveness. In particular, a slender/fit female is more likely to have a medium to high pitched voice, while a heavier female is more likely to have a low pitched voice. Is there a physiological explanation for this phenomenon? I think it may be somewhat true for men also – aren’t thin men more likely to have a higher pitched voice, and vice versa? After all, Barry White definitely had a few extra pounds!
Interesting observations. It brought to mind an attraction I had a few years ago to a man that I knew to be a “player” and who wasn’t really my type in other ways…but that VOICE, that amazing radio-announcer deep and sexy voice!
It kept me going for several dates, until the flaws in his character brought me back to reality.
SD – My ex was into amateur radio for awhile and had something set up (a repeater?) for which he asked me to record the call sign that would be heard periodically when it was being used. He told me that after he got this thing going, he had several men tell him they would key the thing just to hear my voice. And I was recently told by a guy I’d left a voice mail for that he wanted to leave it on the phone so he could listen to it again and again, but that his female supervisor thought that was creepy and erased it. He asked me to call his cell phone and leave him a message. Guess that’s all he wanted from me, because we only got together once and I haven’t heard from him since. C’est la vie.
On the topic of deeper voices —
I do find myself noticing lower pitched voices but I hadn’t really thought about whether or not that influenced if I thought the men were more attractive. However, thinking on it? I know two performers, both gorgeous, talented and very nice young men (both of whom make me wish I was at least 20 years younger than I am… *sigh*), one has a “lighter” slightly higher pitched speaking and singing voice, the other a lower, more resonant, voice. I’m not sure it was the voice, or just their physical appearances, but I have always found the lower voiced gentleman more attractive.
More than anything, however, I am an “accent whore”. I love men with an accent. Preferably Scottish or Irish, followed closely by the Brit, Aussie and New Zealand accents. Although, any other accent is good too. LOL So, I guess I’d be very attracted to a deep-voiced Scot or Irishman. Hey… works for me! Hahahahah!
(Sorry for the long response… I got carried away)
You’re wrong to use Robin Thicke as an example with Michael Jackson–although Robin Thicke sings “some” of his songs in falsetto voice (his current hit is an example), his natural speaking voice is very deep… and terribly sexy… new fans are surprised at his vocal range when they see him in concert.
Rebecca: I’ve not heard Robin speak, just sing, and that song where he goes falsetto plays so much that this is the image I have. I thought about Tiny Tim, but he didn’t really have a high speaking voice although his singing voice was.
seilidhe:
You too!
And, yes, it seems a very superficial response by men, rather than an indicator they want a deeper (snicker) relationship.
So, how would you decribe your pitch and timber?
Where is your accent from?
I have one of those US ‘TV’ announcer accents- you know, the one that everybody says is ‘no accent’?
It’s slightly flat West Coast, supplemented with some Coastal drawl and a bit of the clipped structure of SF East Bay, with upturns at the end of sentences.
(yep, accent fiend here) 😉
And I know what you mean about ‘other’ accents. Slavic-language, Irish or Scottish, Italian…yummm!
About the correlation between slender and heavy women and their voices-
I’ve heard the common belief that all women on those phonelines are 40 and 200 pounds too. And there may be some truth to it, don’t know anyone personally that works for one!
I have been between sizes 8P and 14P, and it was in place by the time I was 17/18…and let’s just say I’m not a teenager anymore…
I think, however, that it might be a more-specific thing:
The dimensions of the ribcage for your overall size.
Not completely, but certainly an influence on the depth and timber of your voice.
Both of my daughters inherited the voice on the phone, although past hello it is clear if you pay attention that my oldest is NOT me since she has a VERY slightly higher overall pitch.
My ribcage is quite large for my size, by measurement, although not terribly obvious by looking in most clothes. It is also longer than average.
The youngest got my ribcage even though she is a XS/0.
The oldest did not, but it is not as small around as the rest of her build would dictate; she’s maybe a 3/4 after 3 kids.
One is tall, one is short.
One has solid bones, one has fine bones.
Pitch is intriguing, but accents can be the death knell sometimes. I have a real problem with Southern accents – I don’t find them appealing much. Right now I am in phone conversation with a fellow with a Michigan accent, which hits me the wrong way sometimes. I’m from NJ, but have never had much of the traditional Jersey accent, unless I’m hanging around my high school buddies, so no one has ever said much about my accent.
This guy seems like a good guy, intelligent, articulate, good natured and apparently enjoys many of the same activities that I do – and we have no problem conversing. He is traveling away from our home area at the time, but I’m sure we’ll meet when he gets back. This is odd, though. We are having phone chats like we’ve been married a million years (so how was the fishing? and the dog, is he being good?) but haven’t met yet! This is the last online connection I plan on having, it’s just backwards!
Accents! There’s a whole kettle of fish!
In Germany I read an article by a woman who was fixed up, through friends, with a top guy in advertising. She’d seen photos, he was handsome and everyone considered him quite a catch. She was from Hamburg (very sophisticated) and he was from Stuttgart. With the accent to match. Schwaebish is, to my also northern German ears (I lived there for 15 years) one of the silliest sounding and also hardest to understand accents in the country. His was as thick as paint. It put her right off him.
She thought, and rightly so, I think, that if he was such a big deal in national and even international marketing, the least he could do was talk understandably. (I once had a Schwaebe on the telephone and after I asked him for about the 20th time to repeat himself he apologized and said, “Sorry, I can’t speak ‘High German’”!!!)
For the record, I’m American born (NJ as well), a German citizen, have a French last name, live in the UK and speak with a (mysteriously acquired) Canadian accent that most people (especially the Sweetie) think is cute.
Think of Lena Lamont in “Singing in the Rain” the next time you think voice quality doesn’t count!
I’ve always been a sucker for a low voice with a slight raspy quality like Viggo Mortensen and Russell Crowe.
I loooooooooooove deep voiced men, there’s definitely something thrilling about those dulcet tones late at night, especially during intimate moments. Plus, I believe deeper voices, both male and female, lend an air of authority to the speaker’s words that just can’t be matched by higher voiced types.
Just for the record: I have a very deep, husky female voice, (I sang tenor in the school choir for years), but, no, I don’t resemble Roseanne, not unless Roseanne diets down to a size 1, that is. 🙂
Im also a sucker of deep voice too.