Do Women's Voices Provide Cues of the Likelihood of Ovulation? The Importance of Sampling Regime

Fischer, Julia; Semple, Stuart; Fickenscher, Gisela H.; Jürgens, Rebecca; Kruse, E.; Heistermann, Michael; Amir, Ofer

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024490

Cited by 67 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 54 publications

(73 reference statements)

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“…Most of these studies looked exclusively at preferences of men [2,[5][6][7][10][11][12] as men directly benefit from ovulation detection in women: the likelihood of reproducing is highest with a woman who is in her fertile cycle phase (cf. [7]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can women detect cues to ovulation in other women's faces?

2016

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Recent research suggests that men find portraits of ovulatory women more attractive than photographs of the same women taken during the luteal phase. Only few studies have investigated whether the same is true for women. The ovulatory phase matters to men because women around ovulation are most likely to conceive, and might matter to women because fertile women might pose a reproductive threat. In an online study 160 women were shown face pairs, one of which was assimilated to the shape of a late follicular prototype and the other to a luteal prototype, and were asked to indicate which face they found more attractive. A further 60 women were tested in the laboratory using a similar procedure. In addition to choosing the more attractive face, these participants were asked which woman would be more likely to steal their own date. Because gonadal hormones influence competitive behaviour, we also examined whether oestradiol, testosterone and progesterone levels predict women's choices. The women found neither the late follicular nor the luteal version more attractive. However, naturally cycling women with higher oestradiol levels were more likely to choose the ovulatory woman as the one who would entice their date than women with lower oestradiol levels. These results imply a role of oestradiol when evaluating other women who are competing for reproduction. BackgroundOvulation cues in humans are subtle but perceivable (for a review, see [1] [6,7] and look [8][9][10][11] more attractive during the fertile days of their menstrual cycle. Most of these studies looked exclusively at preferences of men [2,[5][6][7][10][11][12] as men directly benefit from ovulation detection in women: the likelihood of reproducing is highest with a woman who is in her fertile cycle phase (cf. [7]). For women, the benefit of detecting other women's fertility is less clear. Some researchers negate any adaptive function for women being sensitive to ovulation cues in other women (e.g. [13]) while others have claimed that it is also beneficial for women to detect ovulation in other women, especially in the context of intra-sexual competition (cf. [14]). For example, ovulatory women may be more likely to engage in poaching behaviours and they might be more attractive to men, posing a potential threat to other (non-ovulating) women. Indeed, previous studies have shown that men find ovulatory faces more attractive [10,11].Here we investigate whether women show a similar preference for ovulatory faces to men. Women were shown pairs of faces, one of which depicted an ovulatory face, the other a luteal face, and were asked to choose the more attractive woman. According to some authors ([8], see also [15]), facial signals of ovulation might be identical to what is typically seen as attractive in women's faces. If this were true we would expect that both women and men should find female faces showing ovulation cues more attractive. Alternatively, if detecting ovulation cues is beneficial

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can women detect cues to ovulation in other women's faces?

2016

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“…Some authors use short sounds with neutral content, such as numbers (e.g., from 1 to 10; Hughes et al, 2002, and subsequent work), while others use neutral sentences such as the Rainbow passage (see Puts, Gaulin, & Verdolini, 2006, and subsequent work) or the time of day (e.g., "it's fifteen minutes to three," used by Lander, 2008). Connoted sentences have also been chosen, such as the equivalent of "hello" (Apicella & Feinberg, 2009), "I really like you/I really don't like you" Vukovic et al, 2008), and even free speech sentences (Fischer et al, 2011;Hodges-Simeon et al, 2011;Puts, 2005). Still others use monophthong vowel sounds (e.g., /a/ and /i/ in English).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voice attractiveness: Influence of stimulus duration and type

et al. 2012

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Voice attractiveness is a relatively new area of research. Some aspects of the methodology used in this domain deserve particular attention. Especially, the duration of voice samples is often neglected as a factor and happens to be manipulated without the perceptual consequences of these manipulations being known. Moreover, the type of voice stimulus varies from a single vowel to complex sentences. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the extent to which stimulus duration (nonmanipulated vs. normalized) and type (vowel vs. word) influence perceived voice attractiveness. Twenty-seven male and female raters made attractiveness judgments of 30 male and female voice samples. Voice samples included a single vowel /a/, a three-vowel series /i a o/, and the French word "bonjour" (i.e., "hello"). These samples were presented in three conditions: nonmanipulated, shortened, and lengthened duration. Duration manipulation was performed using the pitch synchronous overlap and add (PSOLA) algorithm implemented in Praat. Results for the effect of stimulus type showed that word length samples were more attractive to the opposite sex than vowels. Results for the effect of duration showed that the nonmanipulated sound sample duration was not predictive of perceived attractiveness. Duration manipulation, on the other hand, altered perceived attractiveness for the lengthening condition. In particular, there was a linear decrease in attractiveness as a function of modification percentage (especially for the word, as compared with the vowels). Recommendations for voice sample normalization with the PSOLA algorithm are thus to prefer shortening over lengthening and, if not possible, to limit the extent of duration manipulation-for example, by normalizing to the mean sample duration.

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“…The "castrati" had a small larynx and vocal folds and were well known for their clear, high-pitched voices (27). In women, fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone levels during the menstrual cycle are accompanied by variations in the pitch of the voice (28,29). Administration of laryngeal corticosteroids is used for treatment of vocal fold scars (30), whereas inhalation of corticosteroids for treatment of bronchial asthma occasionally induces vocal fold atrophy (31).…”

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confidence: 99%

Differential Responses to Steroid Hormones in Fibroblasts From the Vocal Fold, Trachea, and Esophagus

et al. 2015

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There is accumulating evidence that fibroblasts are target cells for steroids such as sex hormones and corticoids. The characteristics of fibroblasts vary among tissues and organs. Our aim in this study is to examine differences in responses to steroid hormones among fibroblasts from different cervicothoracic regions. We compared the actions of steroid hormones on cultured fibroblasts from the vocal folds, which are considered to be the primary target of steroid hormones, and the trachea and esophagus in adult male rats. Expression of steroid hormone receptors (androgen receptor, estrogen receptor α, and glucocorticoid receptor) was identified by immunofluorescence histochemistry. Androgen receptor was much more frequently expressed in fibroblasts from the vocal fold than in those from the trachea and esophagus. Cell proliferation analysis showed that administration of testosterone, estradiol, or corticosterone suppressed growth of all 3 types of fibroblasts. However, mRNA expression for extracellular matrix-associated genes, including procollagen I and III and elastin, and hyaluronic acid synthase I was elevated only by addition of testosterone to fibroblasts from the vocal fold. These results indicate that each steroid hormone exerts region-specific effects on cervicothoracic fibroblasts with different properties through binding to specific receptors.

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Do Women's Voices Provide Cues of the Likelihood of Ovulation? The Importance of Sampling Regime

Cited by 67 publications

References 54 publications

Can women detect cues to ovulation in other women's faces?

Can women detect cues to ovulation in other women's faces?

Voice attractiveness: Influence of stimulus duration and type

Differential Responses to Steroid Hormones in Fibroblasts From the Vocal Fold, Trachea, and Esophagus

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