Phonetic correlates of vocal attractiveness in American English.

Abstract

This study explores fine‐grained phonetic vocal characteristics that underpin vocal attractiveness. In general, while it is well known that F0 plays a major role in such judgments [see, e.g., Riding et al. (2006)] there is a distinct lack of more detailed examinations of the phenomenon [see Zuta (2007) for a notable exception]. Moreover, the term “attractiveness” is generally ill‐defined and conflated with other terms (such as “pleasantness”). Therefore, the specific goal of this study is to replicate and extend such studies by including a large number of talkers, more detailed acoustic measures, and better definition the term “attractiveness”. Specifically, 60 talkers from California (30 female) produced isolated words controlled for phonetic content. These voices will be played to listeners who will judge the attractiveness of each talker. Ratings of these talkers will be compared against these acoustic measures: duration, average F0, F0 variation, spectral tilt, jitter, vowel space area, long term averaged spectrum, VOT, spectral mean of frication, and spectral peak of frication. The semantic value of “attractiveness” will be explored in follow‐up questionnaires asking more detailed questions. Results will be compared against previous studies and will be discussed in terms of possible universal and culture‐specific features.