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Vocal Indicators of Dominance

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Synonyms

Bioacoustics; Formidability; Rank; Resource-holding potential; Status

Definition

Nonverbal vocal characteristics that indicate one’s potential to successfully acquire resources through force (physical or otherwise), threat of force, or the perceived benefits of associating with prestigious (i.e., high-ranking) social partners.

Introduction

A variety of trait dimensions such as dominance are gauged from “thin-slice” judgments of other individuals based on their physical characteristics. Inspired largely by theoretical models of same-sex competition (i.e., intrasexual selection) in nonhuman species, where the capacity to quickly assess another individual’s dominance has obvious benefits for reproductive fitness (Puts 2010), research over many decades has explored the extent to which various acoustic properties within the voice denote dominance.

Research on vocal indicators of dominance has largely focused on the extent to which nonverbal acoustic characteristics indicate...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Psychology, School of Social and Health Sciences, Abertay University, Dundee, DD1 1HG, UK

    Christopher D. Watkins

  2. Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research Group, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK

    Katarzyna Pisanski

  3. Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, 50-527, Poland

    Katarzyna Pisanski

Authors
  1. Christopher D. Watkins
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  2. Katarzyna Pisanski
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher D. Watkins .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Minna Lyons

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Watkins, C.D., Pisanski, K. (2016). Vocal Indicators of Dominance. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1412-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1412-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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