Voice Changes Meaning: The Role of Gay- Versus Straight-Sounding Voices in Sentence Interpretation

Fabio Fasoli,Anne Maass,Simone Sulpizio,Raquel Antonio,Rachel Karniol

doi:10.1177/0261927x19886625

Abstract

Utterances reveal not only semantic information but also information about the speaker’s social category membership, including sexual orientation. In four studies ( N = 345), we investigated how the meaning of what is being said changes as a function of the speaker’s voice. In Studies 1a/1b, gay- and straight-sounding voices uttered the same sentences. Listeners indicated the likelihood that the speaker was referring to one among two target objects varying along gender-stereotypical characteristics. Listeners envisaged a more “feminine” object when the sentence was uttered by a gay-sounding speaker, and a more “masculine” object when the speaker sounded heterosexual. In Studies 2a/2b, listeners were asked to disambiguate sentences that involved a stereotypical behavior and were open to different interpretations. Listeners disambiguated the sentences by interpreting the action in relation to sexual-orientation information conveyed by voice. Results show that the speaker’s voice changes the subjective meaning of sentences, aligning it to gender-stereotypical expectations.

Highlights

IntroductionPeople use social categorization and stereotypes to deal with the great amount of information they are exposed to (Macrae, Milne, & Bodenhausen, 1994)
We tested whether a speaker's voice indicative of his/her sexual orientation ( SO) shapes the representation of a target object mentioned in the message (Studies 1a/1b) and facilitates the disambiguation of ambiguous messages in line with stereotypical expectations associated with the speaker (Studies 2a/2b)
We hypothesized that listeners would resolve the ambiguity based on vocal information in the direction implied by the speakers' voice

Summary

Introduction

People use social categorization and stereotypes to deal with the great amount of information they are exposed to (Macrae, Milne, & Bodenhausen, 1994) In this process, other individuals are often categorized as members of social groups based on minimal cues, including their voices (Dragojevic, 2018; Fasoli, Maass, & Sulpizio, 2016). Other individuals are often categorized as members of social groups based on minimal cues, including their voices (Dragojevic, 2018; Fasoli, Maass, & Sulpizio, 2016) In this way, they become associated with stereotypes referring to the social category to which they belong (Macrae & Bodenhausen, 2001).

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Conclusion