Men who speak in a lower pitch are worse at communicating with their loved ones, and so can be more likely to avoid forming close attachments, a study discovered.
Scientists recruited 218 undergraduate students, assessed their attachment style through a questionnaire, and had them record sentences to assess their vocal pitch.
Those with a ‘more masculine’ voice found it harder to develop strong attachments in a relationship, say experts from Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu, China.
They also used less positive communication patterns in their relationships compared to those that speak with a higher pitch.
The authors say this could be due to a previously discovered link between deeper voices and higher testosterone levels in men, or it could be that higher voiced men develop better communication strategies to attract a mate.
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Men who speak in a lower pitch are worse at communicating with their loved ones, and so can be more likely to avoid forming close attachments, a study discovered. Stock image
The voice has been shown to convey information about relationship behaviours, the authors said, including pitch being linked to physical attractiveness being unfaithful.
Lower voice pitch has been shown to be linked to greater levels of testosterone, and higher testosterone is linked to relationship issues, authors of the new study said.
Jing Zhang and Lijun Zheng recruited 218 undergraduate students – 90 men and 128 women – who filled out a questionnaire that measured their attachment style.
They then had the students speak five expressions into a microphone so the researchers could determine their voice pitch level.
The questionnaire measured anxious attachment – characterised by clinginess and persistent need for reassurance.
They also completed a scale that measured the communication patterns typically used when tackling relationship issues.
During the recordings they had to speak five expressions into a microphone which were analysed to measure fundamental frequency – an indicator of the pitch of the voice.
They then calculated variations in fundamental frequency over the five words to create a standard measure.
Men with a lower pitch were more likely to avoid attachments and less constructive in their communication style.
Voice pitch had no link to attachment and communication style among the female students involved in the study Zhang and Zheng say that people with feminine traits are more likely to show greater levels of warmth and empathy.
They said these were important qualities in maintaining a healthy relationship, so men with more feminine voices would be more prone to adopting better relationship maintenance behaviours.
This included positive communication strategies.
They say that testosterone levels are the most likely explanation, with higher testosterone linked to lower voices.
Those with a ‘more masculine’ voice found it harder to develop strong attachments in a relationship, say experts from Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu, China. Stock image
The team say that the alternative is that as deep voiced men are more attractive to women, those with higher pitched voice develop more favourable communication strategies to increase their value to potential mates.
It was a limited study, as the cohort was made of students who were likely less secure in their opinions than the general population.
The findings have been published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy.
