Hadza Men With Lower Voice Pitch Have a Better Hunting Reputation

Smith, Kristopher M; Olkhov, Yevgeniy; Puts, David A.; Apicella, Coren L.

doi:10.1177/1474704917740466

Cited by 38 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 100 publications

(169 reference statements)

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“…Our analyses revealed no clear evidence that stronger individuals had more masculine voices. These results are consistent with other work finding similar null results (Sell et al, ; Smith et al, ), suggesting that previously reported positive correlations between arm strength and sexually dimorphic vocal characteristics (Puts et al, ) may not be robust. Our null results are also consistent with recent work suggesting that voices may not necessarily be a valid cue of men's threat potential (see also Han et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Although the speech samples we used are similar to those employed in previous research on this topic, stronger relationships between strength and vocal characteristics might occur using less neutral vocalizations (eg, the type of vocalizations made during direct competition), if individuals exaggerate existing (but otherwise subtle) vocal cues of strength when competing. Nonetheless, we note here that several studies have now found no significant correlations between strength and vocal masculinity in men (Kordsmeyer, Hunt, Puts, Ostner, & Penke, ; Sell et al, ; Smith et al, ) and the significant correlations reported by Puts et al () were both inconsistent across samples and would not have been significant if corrected for multiple comparisons. Collectively, these points may indicate the correlations reported in Puts et al () might be false positives.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 48%

“…Indeed, Sell et al () found no significant relationships between physical strength and either F0 or Df in US, Tsimane, or Andean men, or in a sample of US women. Moreover, in a sample of Hadza men that overlapped with that analyzed in Puts et al (), Smith, Olkhov, Puts, and Apicella () reported no significant correlation between upper‐body strength and F0.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

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No clear evidence for correlations between handgrip strength and sexually dimorphic acoustic properties of voices

Han

Wang

Fasolt

et al. 2018

American J Hum Biol

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Objectives: Recent research on the signal value of masculine physical characteristics in men has focused on the possibility that such characteristics are valid cues of physical strength. However, evidence that sexually dimorphic vocal characteristics are correlated with physical strength is equivocal. Consequently, we undertook a further test for possible relationships between physical strength and masculine vocal characteristics. Methods: We tested the putative relationships between White UK (N = 115) and Chinese (N = 106) participants' handgrip strength (a widely used proxy for general upper-body strength) and five sexually dimorphic acoustic properties of voices: fundamental frequency (F0), fundamental frequency's SD (F0-SD), formant dispersion (Df ), formant position (Pf ), and estimated vocal-tract length (VTL). Results: Analyses revealed no clear evidence that stronger individuals had more masculine voices. Conclusions: Our results do not support the hypothesis that masculine vocal characteristics are a valid cue of physical strength. K E Y W O R D S sexual dimorphism, strength, voice

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 48%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

See 1 more Smart Citation

No clear evidence for correlations between handgrip strength and sexually dimorphic acoustic properties of voices

Han

Wang

Fasolt

et al. 2018

American J Hum Biol

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“…Several studies have tried to find a link between voice pitch and physical strength, but the results are weak and do not typically replicate. Three ` independent lab groups were unable to find any link between voice pitch and physical strength measures among adults (Han et al, 2017;Sell et al, 2010;Smith, Olkhov, Puts, & Apicella, 2017). Out of several published samples on adults, only one reports that voice pitch is negatively related to physical strength (Puts, Apicella, & Cárdenas, 2012), however, these results were weak and only significant when not controlling for multiple comparisons (Bakker, Hartgerink, Wicherts, & van der Maas, 2016).…”

Section: Pitchmentioning

confidence: 92%

A house of cards: bias in perception of body size mediates the relationship between voice pitch and perceptions of dominance

2019

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Theories of the evolution of low voice pitch in men are based on the idea that voice pitch is an honest indicator of physical dominance, but relationships among pitch, physical body size and strength among same sex adults voice are weak and unstable. Nevertheless, judgements of body size based on voice pitch are the result of perceptual bias that low frequencies sound large. If dominance judgements are based in part on perception of size, then dominance perception could also be the result of perceptual bias. Thus, we tested if the relationship between voice pitch and judgements of height mediated the relationship between voice pitch and dominance judgements. The relationship between voice pitch and perceived height fully mediated the relationship between voice pitch and dominance. This was driven by the portion of variance that was inaccurate in height perception (i.e. residual error), and not conditional upon actual height, or perceptions thereof. Collectively our results demonstrate that the relationship between voice pitch and perceived dominance is not based on observation of real world relationships between physical size and voice pitch, but rather based on a bias to perceive low pitched voices as large people. Hence, the relationship between dominance and voice pitch is coincidental rather than causal. Thus, since the relationship between physical dominance and voice pitch is conditional upon the relationship between a biased perception of body size, voice pitch is not an honest indicator of physical dominance. Consequently, the evolution of low pitch in men's voices cannot be explained by selection for accurate dominance cues.

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“…The entire process was then repeated for each trait. The Hadza have previously done this task multiple times HADZA DISAGREE ON MORAL CHARACTER 9 to rank campmates on hunting ability (Apicella, 2014;Smith, Olkhov, Puts, & Apicella, 2017;Stibbard-Hawkes, Attenborough, & Marlowe, 2018).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hadza Hunter-Gatherers Disagree on Perceptions of Moral Character

Smith

Apicella

2019

Social Psychological and Personality Science

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To the extent that moral character is grounded in stable and observable truths, there should exist agreement between people in their judgments of others’ character. In Western populations, this agreement is found. We examine whether this is universal in Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania. Ninety-four judges ranked their campmates on global character and relevant character traits for a total of 802 observations. Judges disagreed on rankings of global character, generosity, and honesty but agreed more on hard work and hunting ability. Individual rankings on specific traits predicted character evaluations. There was agreement between judges on the extent to which generosity and hard work related to character. These findings suggest that Hadza have shared beliefs about what traits constitute character but disagree on which of their campmates exhibit these traits. We discuss these findings in light of other research suggesting that stable moral dispositions may not be universal.

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Hadza Men With Lower Voice Pitch Have a Better Hunting Reputation

Cited by 38 publications

References 100 publications

No clear evidence for correlations between handgrip strength and sexually dimorphic acoustic properties of voices

No clear evidence for correlations between handgrip strength and sexually dimorphic acoustic properties of voices

A house of cards: bias in perception of body size mediates the relationship between voice pitch and perceptions of dominance

Hadza Hunter-Gatherers Disagree on Perceptions of Moral Character

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