Sexual Selection on Human Voices

Abstract

Vocal communication is important in many mammals, including many nonhuman primates, but in no species is it more important than in humans. Given the relevance of vocal communication to both men and women, it is conspicuous that some of the largest human sex differences occur in the voice. Understanding why men’s and women’s voices differ as dramatically as they do promises to elucidate human communication and social dynamics in general and human mating and status competition in particular. We review research suggesting that sexual selection shaped the acoustic features of the human voice and consider how mate choice and contest competition may have influenced women’s and men’s voices. We find that male mate choice may have maintained high, youthful-sounding voices in women, perhaps because feminine voices advertise women’s fertility. We also review evidence that men’s voices were shaped by female mate choice and male contests and advertise men’s mate value and threat potential and that women’s preferences for and men’s deference to masculine voices reflect this information content. We discuss data suggesting that vocal masculinity influences men’s mating opportunities and reproduction and conclude by highlighting directions for future research.