Voice appeal

Voices convey much more than the words they shape. Take for instance the word, “Hi”; presented with a light tone and rising inflexion it can communicate a sense of joi de vivre and expectation. Equally, a “Hi” delivered with a base tone that drops away into a sigh can convey that all is not well in the world of the greeter. In terms of attraction voices also carry a lot of power. We know that voices that sound like they are coming from bigger men or smaller women are regarded as more attractive but what about the sound of a friend’s voice? Do voices play a role in social groups beyond words? According to a new study they do and there is a distinct pattern to the voices of the friends we choose and why we like them.

This very simple study design involved people listening to both male and female voices and rating the voices for attractiveness. Simple studies though, can lead to detailed findings.

For a start, people rate people with accents similar to their own as being more attractive. This was an American study and they found, for instance, that people from California preferred people who make the “oo” sound from words like “goose” at the front of their mouth. This front of mouth “oo” has been a characteristic of California-speak since at least 1980 whereas across the rest of America and in many other parts of the English speaking world like Australia the “oo” is made at the back of the mouth. While you are thinking it, yes, this is another example of California being in a world of its own.

Back to what people found attractive found in voices, it was found that men who spoke with a shorter average word length were regarded as more attractive. This is not so much about sound of voice of course, and perhaps it shows a belief that men should be seen and not heard leaving the verbose interlocutions to women?

In women a breathy voice was regarded as attractive, in the mode of Marilyn Monroe and her famous, “Happy birthday Mr President” which is so breathlessly delivered that an uninformed listener could suspect that poor Marilyn was suffering from emphysema. The attraction factor for a breathless voice comes from the fact that younger, thinner vocal chords yield a breathy-ness in speech. So a breathy voice speaks youth and health, and therefore attraction, to the listener.

Aside from these small sex differences the research found that in all we are attracted to and prefer voices that are similar to our own. This vocal similarity leads to a soothing sense of community and social belonging. Of course, there is a range beyond the soothingly similar where something becomes exotic and enticing. This is why the rest of the world seems to fall about itself in the face of an ordinary French accent. By and large however, we like people who are like us and who have voices like us. No wonder New Yorkers have such an intimate bond.