Trying to sound sexy? Sorry, guys, you just don't have what it takes.

This has been a difficult year - scientifically - to be a man.  There has been myriad research published that says, essentially, men are superfluous.  Unnecessary. Unneeded.

 Sigh.

 In brief, here's some the conclusions reached in diligently pursued and vetted research:
  • Women make better members of boards of directors.  
    • Boards with women on them make a higher profit and are 20% less likely to fail.
  • Women owned businesses tend to last longer.  While making more money.
  • Women are far more socially and environmentally conscious.
  • Men play "power games", women focus on results.
  • Women focus on communication and relationships; men just want to get, uh, well, you know.
I'm sorry, this makes me depressed, so I'm going to stop the list.  The other people in the coffee shop are sure to notice me sitting in a corner, crying.

So now, here comes another massive blow to the male ego.  

Trying to sound sexier? Sorry, guys, it seems us men just don't have what it takes. 
Here's the story.  And guys, you may want to have a hankie in hand.  Just in case.

What happens when men try to 
manipulate our voice to attract a mate? 
Her voice is hot, his is not.

Suggested readingClick on image
New research suggests that men cannot intentionally make their voices sound more sexy or attractive, while women have little trouble. And true to the stereotype, women will lower their pitch and increase their hoarseness to dial up the allure.

 "This ability may be due to culture and cuts across cultures and time," says Susan Hughes, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at Albright College. "There is a stereotype of what is a sexual voice in our culture -- a low, breathy voice."

 The research examines the patterns that emerge when men and women intentionally modify their voices to project four traits related to mate selection and competition -- sexiness, dominance, intelligence and confidence -- and how others perceive these manipulations.

 For the study, 40 participants (20 men, 20 women) provided intentionally manipulated voice samples for the desired traits, plus a normal speech sample. Each sample consisted of participants counting from one to 10. Another 40 people assessed the degree to which each sample effectively projected the given trait.

 The researchers found that women could make their voices sound more attractive, but men could not. "In fact, although not significantly, it got a bit worse when men tried to sound sexy," says Hughes.

 The difference may be rooted in mate selection, the study says. Women know that men place greater emphasis on attractiveness when choosing a partner, and that voice attractiveness can predict physical attractiveness. Thus, it is beneficial for women to sound sexier to enhance their value to potential mates and to stave off competition from rival females.

 Spectrogram analyses of the samples revealed that both sexes slowed their speech to sound sexy/attractive, while women also lowered their pitch and increased their hoarseness. Ironically, men prefer higher-pitch females, but a woman will signal her interest in a man by intentionally dropping her voice, said Hughes.

 The study found that 
  • Both sexes can manipulate their voices to sound more intelligent. 
  • Women, however, could not sound more confident. 
  • Men could, but only when judged by female raters. This may be true, according to the study, because it's important for men to project confidence to women (and for women to perceive it), since confidence can indicate financial and personal success, which women value in a potential partner. 
  • Men, on the other hand, may be more attuned to detecting male posturing and more inclined to underrate their competition.
Researchers were surprised to find that both men and women could equally and effectively manipulate their voices to sound more dominant. This may indicate a cultural shift. As more women enter traditionally male-dominated roles and leadership positions, they may choose to modify their voices to sound more formidable. As example, the study points to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who received vocal training to sound more domineering when coming into office.

*  *  *  *  *

 Story Source: Materials provided by Albright College. Susan Hughes, Justin Mogilski, Marissa Harrison. The Perception and Parameters of Intentional Voice Manipulation. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 2014

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lucrezia Borgia, Adulteress, Poisoner, Entrepreneur

Image
W ho was Lucrezia Borgia?  Tradition has it that she may have poisoned her second husband, Giovanni Sforza.  Rumor of the day had it that Lucretia had incestuous relations with both her father, Rodrigo Borgia, later Pope Alexander VI, and her brother, Cesare Borgia.   What is know for certain is that Lucretia was the illegitimate daughter of Rodrigo, then a cardinal of the Catholic Church, and his mistress,  Vannozza dei Cattanei.  It is known that she was married three times, the first being annulled as never being consummated (despite her giving birth a few months after the annulment).  The second marriage ended in the death of her husband, Giovanni, and her third to  Alfonso d'Este, son of the powerful Duke of Ferrera.  This was also to be Alfonso's third marriage, which ended when Lucrezia dies ten days after she gave birth to a stillborn daughter.  She also had affairs (as did her husbands) with several political figures of the day, and even gave birth to the dau
Read more

How the brain listens to literature

Image
Results of the localizer scans: Whole-brain analysis results for the action localizer scan in yellow and for the mentalizing localizer in blue. How do people understand fiction?  What happens in their brains when either reading or listening to a piece of fiction?  And why do some people prefer character based works, and others action adventure?  From this study, it seems there may be a genetic basis for these choices rather than the preference being learned.  It probably explains why some writers prefer creating character based fiction and others action based.  As we're discovering, "we're born this way," to quote Lady Gaga, and free will has little to do with it.   This research shows that some people primarily get involved in the action, visualizing the story line as it progresses as shown by the portions of the right and left hemispheres of the brain as shown above.  For others, the reading or listening experience activates different portions of the r
Read more

For Men, Online Generosity is a Competition

Image
Credit: Raihani et al./Current Biology 2015 In competitive helping donations made to online fundraising pages, males respond competitively to donations made by other males, but only when giving to an attractive female fundraiser. Female donors do not compete in this way. These findings suggest a role for sexual selection in explaining conspicuous generosity. A recent SNfW post, Would You Kill Hitler if You Could? Men Say Yes. Women Say No. Why? , has drawn more than a few comments on Stage32, a social network website for people in the film industry.  Here are just a few of the comments: "Even that title is pigeon-holing people. Some men say Yes, Some women say no... although I read the link and it is wrong on so many levels."  ~ S.B. "The gender stereotyping does a disservice to men and women." ~ K.R. "This article takes an exaggerated, grandiose, hypothetical situation with layers and layers of complexities, and whittles it all down in
Read more

Archaeologists unearth new evidence of Roman, medieval Leicester

Image
Credit: University of Leicester   Archaeologists excavate large areas of medieval and post-medieval pitting in the backyards of properties running along Southgates. Archaeologists from University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) have unearthed new evidence of Roman and medieval Leicester after recently completing the excavation of two areas at the former Southgates Bus Depot, on the corner of Southgates and Peacock Lane in the centre of Leicester. Archaeologists, led by John Thomas and Mathew Morris of ULAS, have been investigating a series of medieval and post-medieval backyards dating from the 12th century through to the 16th century. These are likely to be associated with densely packed houses and shops which would have once fronted onto the important medieval street of Southgates. Evidence recorded includes stone-lined pits (possibly storage pits or cisterns), rubbish pits, latrines, wells, boundary walls and a possible late 15th or 16th century cellar. Such
Read more

Mood Instability and Your Characters

Image
You're putting together a character who's mood simply bounces all over the place, happy one moment, in a fit of rage the next.  Researchers at King's College London note that this sort of mood instability is part of a number of mental health disorders.  So how do you structure the personality and behavior of a character like this?  Below is the King's College report, along with a brief description from mentalhealth.com, of typical behavior, sometimes in the extreme, of a person who is very emotionally unstable.  This is offered strictly as a guide for crafting character in fiction - and NOT for the amateur diagnosis of the state of someone's mental health.  That is always best left to trained professionals. Another note about emotionally unstable behavior:  as any parent will tell you, this is how adolescents and teen-agers often behave.  It's a normal part of growing up - but it is a matter of degree .  In the extreme, however, this behavior can be diag
Read more