Voices of Leadership

Abstract

Previous research shows that voice pitch plays a significant role in leadership selection (Mayew et al., 2013) and that moremasculine traits, including voice pitch, are typically associated with successful individuals in leadership roles. The present studyextended prior research by examining how sex and gender characteristics of voices influence the perception of leadershipqualities within a military environment. Specifically, the design of the study was a 2 (sex of voice: male, female) × 2 (gender ofvoice: masculinized, feminized) × 2 (sex of participant; man, woman) mixed model design, with the sex and gender of voiceserving as the within subjects factors, sex of participant as a between subjects factor, and ratings of military leadership potentialserving as the dependent variable. Results from an analysis of variance showed that participants rated men’s voices significantlyhigher than women’s voices for leadership potential. However, feminine voices were rated significantly higher than masculinevoices. Additionally, there was a significant interaction between sex of voice and gender of voice that showed that the masculinefemale voice received the lowest ratings of leadership potential. Male participants also provided lower ratings on average to allvoices when compared to female participants. We discuss these findings in terms of gender role congruity and the influence ofandrogyny and gender norms on perceptions of women’s leadership potential in a male-dominated, hierarchical environment.