Women's voice attractiveness varies across the menstrual cycle

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.02.001Get rights and content

Abstract

We investigated ratings of female voice attractiveness as a function of menstrual cycle phase. Women had their voices recorded at four different times during their menstrual cycle. Voice samples were categorized from low to high conception risk based on menstrual cycle phase and empirical pregnancy data. Results showed a significant increase in voice attractiveness ratings as the risk of conception increased across the menstrual cycle in naturally cycling women. There was no effect for women using hormonal contraceptives. Previous research shows that the sound of a person's voice appears to serve as an honest signal of fitness, and our results show perceptual shifts in women's voices that match the predicted output of an independent and well-designed fertility monitoring system. More work is needed to identify the biological mechanisms that underlie these perceptual differences, but growing evidence points to the impact of hormones on the larynx as being the source of these changes.

Introduction

Research on the human voice has been subject to increased attention in recent years. Variation in dominance (Feinberg et al., 2006, Puts et al., 2006), personality attributes (Zuckerman & Driver, 1989), fluctuating asymmetry (Hughes, Harrison, & Gallup, 2002), attractive body features (Hughes, Dispenza, & Gallup, 2004) and a host of other behavioral characteristics have been shown to correlate with variation in the sound of a person's voice. In other words, independent of the content of speech, voice appears to be a medium for the transmission of important biological information.

The human larynx is a hormonal steroid target organ (Caruso et al., 2000). During puberty, estrogen and progesterone affect the morphology of the larynx and shape the mature female voice, while testosterone modifies and deepens the male voice (Abitbol, Abitbol, & Abitbol, 1999). The same sex hormones that affect the voice at puberty also influence the development of sex-specific body configurations (Kasperk et al., 1997, Singh, 1993).

Just as physical characteristics like facial features may be involved in mate choice (Thornhill & Gangestad, 1999), vocal cues may also be important, especially since they can provide information about potential mates when visual cues are ambiguous or not available, such as at night (Hughes et al., 2002). Recent evidence shows that the sound of a person's voice not only provides information about body morphology, but also about features of their sexual behavior as well (Hughes et al., 2004).

Cyclic hormones affect the physical properties of a woman's voice across the menstrual cycle (Abitbol et al., 1999). Variations in female vocal production that occur during menstruation, pregnancy and menopause (Caruso et al., 2000) all coincide with marked hormonal changes. Epithelial smears from the larynx and vagina show similar cytology for steroid hormones (Caruso et al., 2000), particularly estrogen (Fegusson, Hudson, & McCarthy, 1987). Histologic laryngeal changes during the menstrual cycle mirror those of the endometrium (Abitbol et al., 1999). The use of hormonal contraceptives also has an effect on female vocal production. Investigating these changes through spectrogram analysis, Amir, Kishon-Rabin and Muchnik (2002) found that females using hormonal contraceptives had significantly lower jitter and shimmer in their voices than naturally cycling females. Chae, Choi, Kang, Choi and Jin (2001) showed that females experiencing premenstrual syndrome (PMS), which corresponds to hormonal aberrations, were also more prone to vocal changes (e.g., more jitter, lower frequency) compared to other times during the menstrual cycle. G. Bryant and M. Haselton (unpublished data) have also recently reported preliminary evidence for an increase in voice pitch at ovulation compared to other times during the menstrual cycle.

Progesterone increases the viscosity and acidity levels of glandular laryngeal cells, which leads to a decrease in volume, causing vocal cord edema. Estrogen has a hypertrophic effect on laryngeal mucus and increases glandular cell secretion (Abitbol et al., 1999, Amir et al., 2002). Abitbol et al.,, 1989, Abitbol et al., 1999 have identified vocal characteristics such as hoarseness, fatigue and decreases in range as being clinical signs of vocal PMS. In summary, the larynx and genitals clearly seem to be targets for the same sex hormones, and both seem to be affected by hormonal fluctuations across the menstrual cycle.

A number of adaptive behaviors vary across the menstrual cycle that correspond to changes in conception risk. Sexual risk-taking behaviors (Chavenne & Gallup, 1998), reactions to the scent of more symmetrical males (Gangestad & Thornhill, 1998) and preference for more masculine facial features (Penton-Voak & Perrett, 2000) have all been shown to vary as a function of cycle phase. It is reasonable to suppose that the cyclic hormones driving these behaviors could also affect women's voices as well.

In the present study, we investigated attractiveness ratings of female voices collected at different points during the menstrual cycle.

Section snippets

Voice participants

A total of 51 female undergraduates from the State University of New York at Albany were recruited to provide voice samples. Students were recruited through the research subject pool and by advertisements posted around campus. Participants recruited through the research pool were given course credit; those recruited by posters were paid US$2.50 for each voice session they participated in. The study was approved by the university Institutional Review Board.

Using a coded anonymous survey,

Results

Initial data screening revealed no univariate Z score outliers among the voice samples. With a critical chi-square value of 24.32 (df=7, p<.001) for Mahalanobis distance (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007), no multivariate outliers were found. For Cook's distance (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007), all cases fell within the acceptable range of 0 and 1. Before collapsing across voices, there were several missing data points in both groups for five raters. In order to include their ratings in subsequent

Discussion

Students listening to women count from 1 to 10 at different times during the menstrual cycle rated the voices as being more attractive as the speaker's risk of conception increased. This increase in vocal attractiveness was only found for females who were naturally cycling. There were no menstrual cycle effects on voice attractiveness ratings for those taking hormonal contraceptives.

Consistent with the findings of Hughes et al. (2002) concerning voice and fluctuating asymmetry where there were

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Holly Krohel and Nicole Miklos for assistance in data collection, and members of the Human Behavior and Evolution Laboratory for suggestions throughout this project. We also thank Barbara Wilkinson for assistance with design and analysis, and the editor for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

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