The Sound of Symmetry Revisited: Subjective and Objective Analyses of Voice

Hughes, Susan M.; Pastizzo, Matthew John; Gallup, Gordon G.

doi:10.1007/s10919-007-0042-6

Cited by 45 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Previous findings for the relationship between women's average voice pitch and indices of long-term health have been mixed (COLLINS and MISSING 2003;HUGHES et al 2008). In our study, we observed a negative correlation between health risk factors and women's average voice pitch that is consistent with the relationship between a similar factor derived from weight, body mass index, waist circumference and hip circumference in COLLINS and MISSING (2003).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…While HUGHES et al (2002 observed positive correlations between attractiveness ratings of women's voices and indices of women's long-term health (e.g., low waist-hip ratio and high body symmetry, LEIBEL et al 1989;THORNHILL and GANGESTAD 2006), evidence that voice pitch specifically is correlated with indices of women's long-term health is equivocal. For example, HUGHES et al (2008) observed no significant relationship between body symmetry and women's voice pitch. By contrast, COLLINS and MISSING (2003) reported a negative correlation between women's voice pitch and a body measurement factor that was derived from various body measurements, many of which are known to be good predictors of long-term health in women (e.g., body mass index, weight, hip and waist circumference, BIGAARD et al 2004;FINE et al 1999;MANSON et al 1995;WILLET et al 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Women's voice pitch is negatively correlated with health risk factors

Vukovic¹,

Feinberg²,

DeBruine³

et al. 2010

Journal of Evolutionary Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Previous studies have demonstrated that men prefer women's voices with relatively high pitch to those with low pitch, suggesting that men may use voice pitch as a cue of women's mate quality. However, evidence that voice pitch is a cue to women's long-term health is equivocal. Here we present evidence that women's average speaking voice pitch is negatively correlated with a health risk index derived from principle component analysis of various body measurements that are known to predict long-term health outcomes in women (weight, body mass index, percentage body fat, waist and hip circumference, and waist-hip ratio). Our results suggest that voice pitch is a cue to women's long-term health, supporting mate-choice accounts of men's preferences for raised pitch in women's voices.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Women's voice pitch is negatively correlated with health risk factors

Vukovic¹,

Feinberg²,

DeBruine³

et al. 2010

Journal of Evolutionary Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This suggests that voice perception has a role in guiding human mate choice. This idea is supported further by the fact that in some studies, voices are rated more attractive in individuals bearing signals of mate quality, such as body symmetry (Hughes, Harrison, & Gallup, 2002;Hughes, Pastizzo, & Gallup, 2008), reproductive/mating success (Hughes, Dispenza, & Gallup, 2004), and face attractiveness (Lander, 2008;Saxton, Caryl, & Roberts, 2006). This is a relatively new area of research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Studies using sentences also sometimes have mentioned the average duration, but only for information purposes (e.g., Lander, 2008;Puts, Apicella, & Cárdenas, 2012). The only study investigating the effect of voice sample duration on listeners' ratings found no relationship between the duration of 1-to-10 counting sequences and attractiveness of male and female voices (Hughes et al, 2008). The authors found only a significant negative relationship between duration and estimated intelligence in male voices, but this could as well have been due to speech rate (Feldstein, Dohm, & Crown, 2001) rather than to sound duration (only the total duration of the sequence was taken into account).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voice attractiveness: Influence of stimulus duration and type

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

“…Other aspects of attractiveness, such as voice quality [261][262][263][264] and skin condition [265] have been linked to fluctuating asymmetry. A meta-analysis of all five studies of voice quality and facial asymmetry in men and women supports a robust negative association between the two; individuals with more attractive voices have more symmetrical faces.…”

Section: Evolutionary Biologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluctuating Asymmetry of Human Populations: A Review

Graham

Özener

2016

Symmetry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fluctuating asymmetry, the random deviation from perfect symmetry, is a widely used population-level index of developmental instability, developmental noise, and robustness. It reflects a population's state of adaptation and genomic coadaptation. Here, we review the literature on fluctuating asymmetry of human populations. The most widely used bilateral traits include skeletal, dental, and facial dimensions; dermatoglyphic patterns and ridge counts; and facial shape. Each trait has its advantages and disadvantages, but results are most robust when multiple traits are combined into a composite index of fluctuating asymmetry (CFA). Both environmental (diet, climate, toxins) and genetic (aneuploidy, heterozygosity, inbreeding) stressors have been linked to population-level variation in fluctuating asymmetry. In general, these stressors increase average fluctuating asymmetry. Nevertheless, there have been many conflicting results, in part because (1) fluctuating asymmetry is a weak signal in a sea of noise; and (2) studies of human fluctuating asymmetry have not always followed best practices. The most serious concerns are insensitive asymmetry indices (correlation coefficient and coefficient of indetermination), inappropriate size scaling, unrecognized mixture distributions, inappropriate corrections for directional asymmetry, failure to use composite indices, and inattention to measurement error. Consequently, it is often difficult (or impossible) to compare results across traits, and across studies.

show abstract

The Sound of Symmetry Revisited: Subjective and Objective Analyses of Voice

Cited by 45 publications

References 36 publications

Women's voice pitch is negatively correlated with health risk factors

Women's voice pitch is negatively correlated with health risk factors

Voice attractiveness: Influence of stimulus duration and type

Fluctuating Asymmetry of Human Populations: A Review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About