Fundamental frequency of the female's voice: A cross-country empirical study on its influence on social and sexual selection

Abstract

Recent studies demonstrate that voice (in particular, its fundamental frequency -Fo-) may influence on social and sexual selection. Here, we tested how the Fo of female's voice is related to different aspects of social and sexual selection through a novel experimental approach. First, we recorded and measured the Fo of 22 women reading a neutral text in Spanish language. Six of these voices were selected and classified into three categories: voices with a low Fo (<175 Hz), medium Fo (between 175–225 Hz) and high Fo (>225 Hz). Then, these voices were rated by two independent samples including both men and women: one comprised of native Spanish-speakers (n = 683) and the other comprised of native Italian non-Spanish-speakers (n = 484). Contrarily to what we hypothesized, voices with an average Fo were rated as more feminine and attractive, aroused a greater subjective sexual desire in men, and were more strongly related to the desire to engage in a friendship in women. These findings were independent of the sex of the respondents, as well as of the country in which the study was carried out.