Abstract
Vocal fry is speech that is low pitched and creaky sounding, and is increasingly common among young American females. Some argue that vocal fry enhances speaker labor market perceptions while others argue that vocal fry is perceived negatively and can damage job prospects. In a large national sample of American adults we find that vocal fry is interpreted negatively. Relative to a normal speaking voice, young adult female voices exhibiting vocal fry are perceived as less competent, less educated, less trustworthy, less attractive, and less hirable. The negative perceptions of vocal fry are stronger for female voices relative to male voices. These results suggest that young American females should avoid using vocal fry speech in order to maximize labor market opportunities.
Highlights
IntroductionKnown as glottalization, pulse phonation, or ‘‘creaky voice,’’ refers to a quality of voice characterized by intermittent irregular vibrations of the vocal folds (i.e., vocal cords) in the larynx (i.e., voice box)
Vocal fry, known as glottalization, pulse phonation, or ‘‘creaky voice,’’ refers to a quality of voice characterized by intermittent irregular vibrations of the vocal folds in the larynx
As in Wolk et al [5] and Yuasa [6], we find that the vocal fry version of each pair of voices is characterized by pulsed amplitude modulations, or ‘‘creakiness,’’ at the end of the utterance as indicated by the dashed circles on the figure
Summary
Known as glottalization, pulse phonation, or ‘‘creaky voice,’’ refers to a quality of voice characterized by intermittent irregular vibrations of the vocal folds (i.e., vocal cords) in the larynx (i.e., voice box). Vocal fry is produced through brief glottal pulses followed by vocal fold adduction [1,2], resulting in a voice quality accompanied by creaking, cracking, and popping noises [3,4,5]. This quality of speech occurs typically when speakers lower their vocal pitch to the lowest register they are capable of producing [3,4]. The habitual use of vocal fry speech patterns has sparked debate over whether the affectation enhances or degrades perceptions of this demographic, in the eyes of employers
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