Why High Voices Attract Men, But Threaten Women

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Women on the prowl, beware. Perking up your voice may attract a man, but just remember, you aren’t fooling any of your fellow sisters.  Women can tell from other women’s voices how much of a threat they pose to their relationships, anthropologists at Pennsylvania State University have found.

After playing men a range of recordings of women’s voices, men judged those with higher-pitched tones to be the most attractive–especially when asked to choose who they would favor for a one night stand.  When women listened to the same range of voices, they accurately predicted which would be the most appealing to the men.

The findings, as reported in the journal of Personality and Individual Differences, suggest a woman’s high voice may signal youth and fertility to men, just as a man’s deep voice is believed to signal dominance.  Anthropologists believe that higher voices in women may have evolved to sound youthful, flirty and attractive to potential mates.

So next time you watch a movie starring Renee Zellweger or Jennifer Tilly, just remember that those are the voices men would find attractive and women would find threatening.