Social dialect and men's voice pitch influence women's mate preferences

a r t i c l e i n f o Low male voice pitch may communicate potential benefits for offspring in the form of heritable health and/or dominance, whereas access to resources may be indicated by correlates of socioeconomic status, such as sociolinguistic features. Here, we examine if voice pitch and social dialect influence women's perceptions of men's socioeconomic status and attractiveness. In Study 1, women perceived lower pitched male voices as higher in socioeconomic status than higher pitched male voices. In Study 2, women independently perceived lower pitched voices and higher status sociolinguistic dialects as higher in socioeconomic status and attractiveness. We also found a significant interaction wherein women preferred lower pitched men's voices more often when dialects were lower in sociolinguistic status than when they were higher in sociolinguistic status. Women also perceived lower pitched voices as higher in socioeconomic status more often when dialects were higher in sociolinguistic status than when lower in sociolinguistic status. Finally, women's own self-rated socioeconomic status was positively related to their preferences for voices with higher status sociolinguistic dialects, but not to their preferences for voice pitch. Hence, women's preferences for traits associated with potentially biologically heritable benefits, such as low voice pitch, are moderated by the presence of traits associated with resource accrual, such as social dialect markers. However, women's preferences for language markers of resource accrual may be functionally independent from preferences for potential biological indicators of heritable benefits, such as voice pitch. Women's mate preferences are influenced both by cues to fitness benefits such as heritable health and/or dominance and by cues to resource provisioning and protection (Gangestad & Simpson, 2000; Geary & Byrd-Craven, 2004). Male vocal masculinity may be one cue to potential heritable benefits for offspring (Feinberg, 2008; Puts, Jones, & DeBruine, 2012). The development of a masculine, low pitched voice is dependent upon pubertal testosterone levels (Hollien, 1960). Assuming equal tension, thicker and longer vocal folds are capable of producing lower frequencies than are thinner vocal folds (Titze, 1994). Pubertal testosterone levels cause an increase in vocal fold mass, which results in lower voice pitch (Harries, Hawkins, Hacking, & Hughes, 1998). Male voice pitch continues to be inversely related to testosterone levels into adulthood and show stronger immune responses to hepatitis B vaccinations than do men with lower testosterone (Rantala et al., 2012). Therefore, higher levels of testosterone among men are associated with indices of …