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Voice Attractiveness pp 55–80Cite as

Vocal Preferences in Humans: A Systematic Review

Part of the Prosody, Phonology and Phonetics book series (PRPHPH)

Abstract

Surprisingly, the study of human voice evolution has long been conducted without any reference to its biological function. Yet, following Darwin’s original concept, John Ohala was the first linguist to assume the functional role of sexual selection to explain vocal dimorphism in humans. Nevertheless, it is only at the very beginning of the millennial that the study of voice attractiveness developed, revealing that beyond its linguistic role, voice also conveys important psycho-socio-biological information that have a significant effect on the speaker’s mating and reproductive success. In this review article, our aim is to synthesize 20 years of research dedicated to the study of vocal preferences and to present the evolutionary benefits associated with such preferences.

Keywords

  • Vocal preferences
  • Perception
  • Language evolution
  • Sexual selection
  • Evolutionary biology
  • Acoustics
  • Voice
  • Fundamental frequency
  • Formant dispersion
  • Voice attractiveness

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Runaway selection is a mechanism whereby a secondary sexual trait expressed in one sex is correlated with a preference for the trait in the other sex. The genetic coupling of the trait and the preference leads to self-reinforcing loops of coevolution between the trait and preference for the trait (Travers, 2017).

  2. 2.

    The WHR has been used as an indicator of health and the risk of developing serious health conditions. WHR correlates with fertility (with different optimal values in males and females). The concept and significance of WHR as an indicator of attractiveness has been theorized by Singh (1993) who argued the WHR is a consistent estrogen marker, and thus a reliable proxy of fertility. Women with a 0.7 WHR are usually rated as more attractive by men from Indo-European cultures (Singh & Young 2001), but preferences may vary according to the culture under study (Fisher & Voracek, 2006).

  3. 3.

    At the physiological level, low HNR values are believed to be related to insufficient vocal fold adduction during the so-called “closed” interval of the phonatory cycle. Insufficient closure would allow excessive airflow through the glottis, giving rise to a turbulence noise component in the quasi-periodic source signal. This friction noise would result in a higher noise level in the spectrum, especially in the higher frequencies.

  4. 4.

    The theory of immunocompetence handicap (Zahavi, 1975) suggests that androgen-mediated traits accurately signal condition due to the immunosuppressive effects of androgens. This immunosuppression may be either because testosterone alters the allocation of limited resources between the development of ornamental traits and the immune system or because heightened immune system activity has a propensity to launch autoimmune attacks against gametes, such that suppression of the immune system enhances fertility. Therefore, only healthy individuals can afford to suppress their immune system by raising their testosterone levels, which also augments secondary sexual traits and displays (among which low deep voices for men).

  5. 5.

    Secondary sex characteristics are features that appear during puberty in humans, and at sexual maturity in other animals. Secondary sex characteristics include, for example, the manes of male lions, the bright facial and rump coloration of male mandrills, and horns in many goats and/or antelopes. In humans, visible secondary sex characteristics include pubic hair, enlarged breasts and widened hips of females, facial hair, Adam’s apples on males, etc.

  6. 6.

    In a famous article dealing with vocal communication in animals, Morton (1977) introduces his ‘motivation-structural rules’ theory, which suggests physical proprieties of acoustic signals (sounds of high versus low frequencies) are motivated since they reflect the vocalizer’s body size and inform about his/her intentions and/or emotional state. He argues a large number of birds and mammals use low-frequency sounds to express hostility, threat, and aggression whereas high-frequency sounds are rather used to express fear, submission, and “amicability.”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier, University of Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut pour la Recherche et le Développement, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier, France

    Melissa Barkat-Defradas, Michel Raymond & Alexandre Suire

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  1. Melissa Barkat-Defradas
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  2. Michel Raymond
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  3. Alexandre Suire
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Correspondence to Melissa Barkat-Defradas .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Benjamin Weiss

  2. Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany

    Jürgen Trouvain

  3. ISEM, Montpellier, France

    Melissa Barkat-Defradas

  4. International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA

    John J. Ohala

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Barkat-Defradas, M., Raymond, M., Suire, A. (2021). Vocal Preferences in Humans: A Systematic Review. In: Weiss, B., Trouvain, J., Barkat-Defradas, M., Ohala, J.J. (eds) Voice Attractiveness. Prosody, Phonology and Phonetics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6627-1_4

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