Perceptions of infidelity risk predict women’s preferences for low male voice pitch in short-term over long-term relationship contexts

Abstract

Women typically rate lower-pitched men’s voices as more attractive than they rate higher-pitched men’s voices, yet women also perceive men with lower-pitched voices as relatively less likely to be sexually faithful. This disparity between women’s preferences for voice pitch and perceptions of fidelity may be due to the differences in the characteristics women desire in long-term versus short-term mates. Male fidelity is likely an important characteristic within long-term relationships, but may be less important if women are seeking short-term relationships. Here we tested for associations between women’s preferences for male voice pitch in short-term versus long-term relationships and their perceptions of infidelity risk. We found that the more often women rated men with lower-pitched voices as likely to commit infidelity, the greater their preference for lower-pitched men’s voices in a short-term relative to a long-term relationship context. Therefore, the extent to which women select masculine men as short-term partners appears to be tied to the increased risk of infidelity associated with male masculinity.