Body Language of Voice Pitch
Cue: Voice Pitch
Synonym(s): N/A
Description: Pitch is a voice quality describing the number of vibrations emitted from the vocal cords in a unit of time. We detect pitch is the highness or lowness of the voice.
In One Sentence: The depth of the voice indicates dominance and submissiveness.
How To Use it: To appear more dominant lower the voice, to appear more submissive, raise the pitch of the voice. Both voice pitches, high and low, have a place for both men and women.
Men and women should lower their voice pitch when trying to appear in control, assertive and dominant. This will work in any context, but is especially crucial when leadership is required. While a high pitched female voice can be used to create obedience and fear, it will most likely be attributed to loss of control. When voices become high pitched they come across as emotional and this is then ascribed to the person. Lowering the voice, on the other hand, signals dominance which is a more natural way to create obedience.
In dating, men with deep voices are seen as more attractive as it signals higher dominance. Therefore, men should deepen their voices in a dating context. Research has also found that women can artificially make their voices sexier by deepening them. In fact, women were much better at making their voices sexy than men.
Conversely, when men and women wish to create a caring impression, they should use a higher pitched voice. A high pitched voice is best used with babies and small children. The aim is to mirror their voice pitch so as to create a likeness. This will facilitate trust.
Context: General.
Verbal Translation: “My voice is either highly pitched or deeply pitched and this depends on my level of dominance and authority and provides you with cues to how you should treat me and with how much respect I deserve.”
Variant: See Becoming Loud, Becoming Quiet or Whispering.
Cue In Action: Mom’s voice was soothing and calming, but when it came to getting her child to listen, she could raise her voice to a screech. Dad’s voice, on the other hand, was baritone. His voice boomed and put his little boy into action. When Dad talked, the 4-year-old knew the games were over and it was time for bed. His low deep voice resonated with dominance, striking fear in him.
Meaning and/or Motivation: The rate of vibration is controlled by the length and thickness of the vocal cords as well as how they are contracted or relaxed. The greater the vibrations, the higher the pitch, and therefore the higher the note achieved. In most cases, men’s voices are of lower pitch than women’s, but even men can tighten their vocal cords enough to achieve comparable pitch. Therefore, voice pitch is partly under conscious control. The highness and lowness of natural voices is affected by the body chemical androgen, which is the male sex hormone. The same hormone is tied to physical prowess and aggressiveness and also loosely tied to a competitor’s health and vigor making a low voice attractive to females when it is found in men.
To the nonverbal world, meaning is conveyed through pitch. When emotions run high, the voice can raise. A high voice pitch with a high volume is a scream which indicates heightened emotion such as anger, frustration, fear or excitement. A low voice has the reverse effect. It is often calming and authoritarian. Pitch also tells us what kind of person we are dealing with, be they subordinate with a higher pitch or dominant with lower pitch.
While we are all born with a certain natural voice pitch, it is possible to raise or lower our pitch to yield desired results. A woman may raise her voice pitch to gain favour from others, or she may lower it to command respect from colleagues. Generally, a high pitch tells others that we are ineffectual no matter how capable the person might really be. A low pitch with no inflection, showing no emotion, can also signal depression and weariness.
Cue Cluster: This cue coupled with other cues, can strengthen its meaning. A dominant voice with dominant body language increases the chances that a person is perceived that way. However, you might imagine a burley man with a weak, high pitched voice. This will likely confuse the body language reader as it is a mixed message. Voice pitch is just one cue so it must be read alongside other cues in the cluster.
Body Language Category: Amplifier, Authoritative body language, Audible signals, Submissive body language.
Resources:
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