Jovana Vukovic

Integrating cues of social interest and voice pitch in men's preferences for women's voices

Most previous studies of vocal attractiveness have focused on preferences for physical characteristics of voices such as pitch. Here we examine the content of vocalizations in interaction with such physical traits, finding that vocal cues of social interest modulate the strength of mens preferences for raised pitch in womens voices. Men showed stronger preferences for raised pitch when judging the voices of women who appeared interested in the listener than when judging the voices of women who appeared relatively disinterested in the listener. These findings show that voice preferences are not determined solely by physical properties of voices and that men integrate information about voice pitch and the degree of social interest expressed by women when forming voice preferences. Womens preferences for raised pitch in womens voices were not modulated by cues of social interest, suggesting that the integration of cues of social interest and voice pitch when men judge the attractiveness of womens voices may reflect adaptations that promote efficient allocation of mens mating effort.

Women's preferences for masculinity in male faces are highest during reproductive age range and lower around puberty and post-menopause

Masculinity in male faces is thought to be a sign of mate quality and is associated with measures of long-term health. Previous studies have demonstrated that womens masculinity preferences change across the menstrual cycle with women preferring more masculine men during phases of the menstrual cycle where fertility is highest (i.e. the late follicular phase). Given the hormonal correlates of such preferences and that these hormones change across the life span, we tested for differences in female masculinity preferences at different ages. We compared the masculinity preferences of peri-pubescent girls and young adult women (Study 1), circum-menopausal women reporting to either be pre- or post-menopause (Study 2), and a large sample of women across a wide range of ages (Study 3). In all three studies, preferences for masculinity in male faces were highest in women who were at a reproductively active age. Preferences for masculinity were lower when females were peri-pubescent, post-menopausal, or at ages corresponding to these groups. These data support the notion that masculinity in male faces is an important trait for reproductively relevant mate choice decisions. These data also highlight a shift in female visual preferences for men that is associated with important stages of the lifespan. Visual preferences appear to track important hormonal changes associated with age; as women pass puberty their preferences shift towards facial traits associated with mate quality and as women undergo menopause their preferences for such facial traits decrease. Overall, these results demonstrate the important role of reproductive status and support the notion that preferences for male faces are tied to reproductively relevant hormones.

Experimental evidence that women speak in a higher voice pitch to men they find attractive

Abstract Although humans can raise and lower their voice pitch, it is not known whether such alterations can function to increase the likelihood of attracting preferred mates. Because men find higher-pitched womens voices more attractive, the voice pitch with which women speak to men may depend on the strength of their attraction to those men. Here, we measured voice pitch when women left voicemail messages for masculinized and feminized versions of a prototypical male face. We found that the difference in womens voice pitch between these two conditions positively correlated with the strength of their preference for masculinized versus feminized male faces, whereby women tended to speak with a higher voice pitch to the type of face they found more attractive (masculine or feminine). Speaking with a higher voice pitch when talking to the type of man they find most attractive may function to reduce the amount of mating effort that women expend in order to attract and retain preferred mates.

Variation in perceptions of physical dominance and trustworthiness predicts individual differences in the effect of relationship context on women's preferences for masculine pitch in men's voices.

Several studies have found that women tend to demonstrate stronger preferences for masculine men as short-term partners than as long-term partners, though there is considerable variation among women in the magnitude of this effect. One possible source of this variation is individual differences in the extent to which women perceive masculine men to possess antisocial traits that are less costly in short-term relationships than in long-term relationships. Consistent with this proposal, here we show that the extent to which women report stronger preferences for men with low (i.e., masculine) voice pitch as short-term partners than as long-term partners is associated with the extent to which they attribute physical dominance and low trustworthiness to these masculine voices. Thus, our findings suggest that variation in the extent to which women attribute negative personality characteristics to masculine men predicts individual differences in the magnitude of the effect of relationship context on womens masculinity preferences, highlighting the importance of perceived personality attributions for individual differences in womens judgments of mens vocal attractiveness and, potentially, their mate preferences.

HORMONAL CONTRACEPTIVE USE AND PERCEPTIONS OF TRUST MODULATE THE EFFECT OF RELATIONSHIP CONTEXT ON WOMEN'S PREFERENCES FOR SEXUAL DIMORPHISM IN MALE FACE SHAPE

Women demonstrate stronger preferences for femininity when assessing mens attrac- tiveness for long-term rather than short-term relationships. One explanation of this effect is that the pro-social traits associated with femininity are particularly important for long-term relation- ships. This explanation has recently been challenged, however, following null findings for effects of pro-social attributions on womens preferences for feminine long-term partners. A limitation of these latter analyses is that they did not consider hormonal contraceptive use, which is a factor that previous studies suggest affects mate preferences. In our study, we found that women not using hormonal contraceptives demonstrated stronger preferences for femininity in mens faces when assessing men as long-term partners than when assessing men as short-term partners. More- over, this effect was most pronounced among women who perceived feminine men as particularly trustworthy. No equivalent effects were observed among women using hormonal contraceptives. These findings support the proposal that the effect of relationship context on womens face pref- erences occurs, at least in part, because women value pro-social traits more in long-term than short-term partners. Additionally, our findings suggest that both hormonal contraceptive use and individual differences in perceptions of pro-social traits modulate the effect of relationship con- text on womens face preferences.

Circum-menopausal effects on women's judgements of facial attractiveness

The marked change in a womans hormonal profile that happens at menopause affects many aspects of behaviour. We investigated circum-menopausal womens preferences for femininity in the faces of young adult men and women. Post-menopausal women demonstrated stronger preferences for femininity in same-sex faces than pre-menopausal women did. This effect was independent of possible effects of participants age and suggests that dislike of feminine (i.e. attractive) same-sex competitors decreases as fertility decreases. No significant difference between pre- and post-menopausal women was observed for mens faces, potentially because circum-menopausal women do not necessarily view young adult men as potential mates. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate circum-menopausal changes in womens face preferences.

Circum-menopausal changes in women's preferences for sexually dimorphic shape cues in peer-aged faces.

Recent studies suggest that post-menopausal women demonstrate stronger preferences for feminine characteristics in male and female faces than do pre-menopausal women, potentially reflecting stronger preferences for healthy men and greater derogation of attractive women among more fertile women. A limitation of this work was that it assessed circum-menopausal womens face preferences using images of young adults only. Here, we found that post-menopausal women demonstrated stronger preferences for feminine characteristics in male and female peer-aged faces that did pre-menopausal women. These data present novel evidence for circum-menopausal variation in face perception and confirm that the circum-menopausal variation in face preferences observed previously was not an artefact of the young faces employed as stimuli.

WOMEN'S VOICE PITCH IS NEGATIVELY CORRELATED WITH HEALTH RISK FACTORS

Previous studies have demonstrated that men prefer womens voices with relatively high pitch to those with low pitch, suggesting that men may use voice pitch as a cue of womens mate quality. However, evidence that voice pitch is a cue to womens long-term health is equivo- cal. Here we present evidence that womens average speaking voice pitch is negatively correlated with a health risk index derived from principle component analysis of various body measurements that are known to predict long-term health outcomes in women (weight, body mass index, per- centage body fat, waist and hip circumference, and waist-hip ratio). Our results suggest that voice pitch is a cue to womens long-term health, supporting mate-choice accounts of mens prefer- ences for raised pitch in womens voices.