Sexy Voices Linked To Sexy Bodies And Sexual Success

Sexy Voices Linked To Sexy Bodies And Sexual Success
Christopher Philip

14895674806_9f35ce8597_kStudies have shown that a person’s voice correlates to their socioeconomic status, personality traits, overall body symmetry, age, height and weight.

In fact, people who listen to voices alone, are able to match the voice to the person who made the voice with the help of only a photograph at a rate of 75%.

At puberty, estrogen and progesterone shape the female voice, and testosterone shapes the male voice. These same hormones that affect the voice, also shape the human body.

As women enter puberty, high levels of estrogen widen the hips creating a high waist to hip ratio (WHR). Similarly, testosterone widens the male body producing broader shoulders producing a high shoulder to hip ratio (SHR).

Women with low WHR, were the waist is smaller than the hips are rated as more attractive. Additionally, women with a low WHR also tend to have sex at an earlier age, and have more sexual partners overall. Men with high SHR (where the shoulders are smaller than their hips) are also judged to be more attractive and more sexually experienced.

It is therefore assumed that men and women with sexier voices should have sexier bodies, and therefore, more sexual success than those with less sexy voices.

In other words, a sexy voice should be a predictor of overall sexiness.

The Current Study

The study involved the collection of voice samples. Subjects, 149 in total, male and female, offered a recording of their voice. They were instructed to count from 1 to 10 into a recording microphone.

The subjects were then measured. Their waist was measured at the smallest between the hips and chest. The hips measured at the widest girth including the buttocks. The shoulders were measured at the widest part of with the arms relaxed at the sides of the body. Height, weight and body mass index was calculated.

The subjects also anonymously reported their level of sexual activity including the first time masturbating (to determine onset of sexual behaviour), first sexual intercourse, extra-pair copulation and number of sexual partners.

Subjects where then rated on the sexiness of their voice on a scale from 1-5.

Results of The Study

The results showed that voice attractiveness was a predictor of body sexiness. Women with higher WHRs and men with larger SHR had voices that were consistently rated as more attractive.

Men and women who’s voices were rated as more attractive also reported sex at an earlier age, more sexual partners, more extra-pair copulation and sex more often with people already in a relationship.

The best predictor of promiscuity, that is, the number of sexual partners, was SHR in men, but for women it was voice attractiveness.

SHR was a strong overall predictor in men, more so than was WHR in women as far as measures of promiscuity.

Drawing Conclusions

The study is interesting in that it couples voice sexiness with overall sexiness. It shows us that there are likely complimentary factors which control SHR and WHR as well as overall mating success in men and women.

Turns out that we really can tell just how sexy a girl is from her voice alone and the same goes for men.

Voice sexiness predicts onset of sex and promiscuity. This tells us that the voice is a strong fitness indicator.

The results also give us strong anatomical predictors about a person’s overall behaviour and life history. As a trend, men and women who are attractive are also more sexually experienced and have more sexual partners. This is readily predicted even early in sexual development at around puberty.

Image Credit: Lies Thru a Lens

Resources

Hughes, Susan M.; Franco Dispenza and Gordon G. Gallup Jr.. Ratings of voice attractiveness predict sexual behavior and body configuration. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2004; 25: 295–304.

Hughes, S. M., & Gallup Jr., G. G. (2003). Sex differences in morphological predictors of sexual behavior: shoulder to hip and waist to hip ratios. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24, 173–178.

Hughes, S. M., Harrison, M. A., & Gallup Jr., G. G. (2002). The sound of symmetry: voice as a marker of developmental instability. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23, 173–180.

Abitbol, J., Abitbol, P., & Abitbol, B. (1999). Sex hormones and the female voice. Journal of Voice, 13, 424–446.

Krauss, R. M., Freyberg, R., & Morsella, E. (2002). Inferring speakers’ physical attributes from their voices. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 618–625.

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Zuckerman, M., & Driver, R. (1989). What sounds beautiful is good: the vocal attractiveness stereotype. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 13, 67–82.

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