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Subscribe to RSSPssst! Guys, if you want that hottie sitting beside you to remember your stunning good looks long after you’ve left, lower the pitch of your voice when you turn on the charm.
Lower voices seem to stick better in women’s memories, scientists now say. In a study published in this month’s Memory & Cognition, British researchers reported that women were more likely to remember something if they heard it from a man with a low voice than one with a higher pitch.
The theory is that women are hard-wired to pay better attention to a potentially superior mate.
“The reason that male voice pitch should be important is that the pitch of the voice gives an indication of how much testosterone the man has,” said the study’s lead author, Kevin Allan, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom. “Lots of testosterone produces pronounced masculine features, in the voice and face most notably.”
Studies have shown that testosterone impacts the immune system, Allan said. “So, if a man has a rugged masculine face and voice then it implies that he has a good immune system and therefore good health,” he explained.
And that’s the payoff, in evolutionary terms: healthy daddies are more likely to make healthy babies.
To look at the impact of male voice pitch on women’s memories, Allan and his colleagues rounded up 45 young women whose average age was 21.
The women were shown an image of an object while listening to a voice read the name of the object. The male voices were manipulated to sound either high or low pitched.
Later on, the women were shown a picture of the object they’d looked at earlier, along with a picture that was similar, but slightly different -- a plain blue fish versus the same blue fish with a yellow blotch.
When the researchers tallied up the number of times each woman picked the right picture, they discovered that the women were more likely to remember if they’d initially seen the object while a low pitched male voice was naming it.
So, does it work the other way round?
Allan says not. “We did collect data from men who were listening to women’s voices that were high and low in pitch,” he explained. “We found no effect on the men’s memory at all. Our conclusion about the absence of the effect in men’s memory is that men are picking partners based purely on physical characteristics.”
Related:
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Leave a Comment:
Figures. Name any sexually-selected characteristic that's considered desirable for a man to have, and I have the opposite.
The irony is that my immune system is the Navy SEALs of immune systems. I never get sick.
your a carrier, you make them feel sick, lol.
I hear that a lot from women.
Never getting sick can be a bad sign for your immune system too. my friend's husband had crohns disease and didn't know it. when he went on meds and his I.S. leveled out he got sick a lot more often...or you never leave the house ;P
"What about him - hot, or not?
"Well, he looks okay, but he doesn't have a very deep voice."
"Yeah, but have you noticed he never gets sick? He must have the immune system of a Navy SEAL!"
"Okay.....HOT!"
"Our conclusion about the absence of the effect in men’s memory is that men are picking partners based purely on physical characteristics.”
LMAO. Research confirms what we already knew. No worries, The Angry Guy...if you're remotely attractive, and a good guy, you could sound like Mickey Mouse and women will dig it. Women may swoon over Barry White's or James Earl Jones' voice, but that's just a first impression and that will only get a guy so far!
Maybe so...but if science could somehow combine Barry White's and James Earl Jones' DNA and then clone up a human from that...I'm thinking the sound of that man's voice would cause women to instantly spontaneously combust!
...throw in some Sean Connery and you've got a bet.
Agreed. I always said that Orson Wells could have sold my ANYTHING, but I prefer men who look better than did he, and I have to get to know someone before I can even call them a friend, let alone anything else.
Orson Welles was VERY good looking in his heyday.
Ever see "Jane Eyre"?
I don't think it's the pitch of a woman's voice that makes me forget - it's how long I have to listen to it.
I've never thought... Damn, her voice turns me on. It's always been visual.
However, I have a pretty deep voice and my gf loves it.
Is it any coincidence that womens' voices are in the same frequency band that men lose when they lose their hearing?
I refute that statement: " [MOST] women's voices..." I have a deeper voice than a lot of women I know...I like to think it's sensual but I'm sure I sound like the waffle house ladies most of the time (J/K!!)
Hearing loss can be in any part of the register or it can be the whole of the register but at the lower decibel levels.
Your attempt at humor is sexist.
And your attempt at indignance just makes me say, "Oh, please. Grow up."
No surprise , since the most men pay no attention to a women's voices. I know I always tend to tune them out.
Whatever. I'm a sucker for the tenors, the ones where they pick up the phone and are called Ma'am.
I recall that Ricky's deep voice made Lucy tell the truth.
"He's a high-talker."
Generally they start 'fessin' up when you lower your voice.
The study did not mention the possibility that because men with deeper voices speak at a lower pitch, women have to pay more attention to what they are saying and, therefore, are able to better remember what they said. I think that women, by nature, are used to hearing at a higher pitch than men, so when they hear someone speak at a lower pitch, they have to pay extra attention to what's being said so they can remember it. The study also did not indicate how a woman's memory might be affected if she heard a deep-voiced woman speaking as well.
"the possibility that because men with deeper voices speak at a lower pitch"
You probably meant lower volume.....but why assume lower pitch comes with lower volume? Or that the study wouldn't have bucked out such unrelated effects with a compressor limiter? Perhaps you're just confusing personal anecdotes with broader compelling data. You should look at the study abstract for some of your other questions /critiques - they DID compare perception & memory retention of both male & female auditory queues.
I WAS a single hottie and you know what made me notice and remember a guy---is that he laughed at my jokes and I felt completely comfortable to be myself. I am a secret nerd: I love syfy, anything to do with aliens, star wars, star trek---you get the idea. I just wanted a guy to look me in the eye and not at my chest. I wanted someone to lay in bed and dream with me and laugh with me. Lucky for me I found him! In general I don't think my husband has a low voice or exceptionally masculine face...but he is an amazing father, he NEVER forgets our anniversary or special occasions. These studies are ridiculous---look at the 60% divorce rate. If you want to meet your soul mate quit looking and start doing something you love--you are bound to run into women who love the same thing. Volunteer to help others--women love that!
Hear hear, Kallie!
Although at my age, if a guy wants to look at my chest, more power to him!!!
LOL
Kallie, the study is not saying that a deep voice is the only thing women care about. They are not even saying that it's one of the major factors that women care about in a man.
The study says that women remember information better if spoken by a man with a deep voice than a man with a higher pitched voice. That's it. I hope you realize that the advice that "guys should talk in a deep voice as a strategy for meeting women" was in the *NEWS REPORT*. It wasn't in the peer reviewed paper. So if you are reacting to that, your complaint should be directed at the reporter that covered the story, not the scientists that did the study.
It was just the media sensationalizing a science story. Nothing new.
Boom, boom, boom! So I guess that will make them remember me now...
Adolph Caesar anyone?
Is Brad Pitt's voice high or low? I can never recall...
"Is Brad Pitt's voice high or low? I can never recall..."
The study merely suggests if it was low you'd remember him more or better what he said than if he didn't.
Who remembers what Brad Pitt says?
Now that I think about it, the only thing I can remember Brad Pitt saying is "Hector!", mainly because he said it about 10 times.
All these hunks will not be remembered by my wife on her netbook.
Who do you want ladies, a guy who can put meat on the table or a guy who can pick a weed.
Just because the ladies remember what you said does not mean you ade the grade. If you are remembered for saying in a baratone voice "have some arugula", that can't be good.