Voters drawn to candidates with lower-pitched voices

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/tigue.jpg” caption=”Cara Tigue has found that people are more inclined to vote for men with lower-pitched voices, suggesting that perceptions developed long ago may still be influencing the way we choose leaders. Photo by Matt Terry.”]Voters prefer to choose candidates with lower-pitched voices, according to new findings
by researchers at McMaster University.
A team from the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behavior found that study
subjects were more inclined to vote for men with lower-pitched voices, suggesting that
perceptions developed long ago may be still be influencing the way we choose leaders.
“We're looking at men's low voice-pitch as a cue to dominance, which is related to
leadership,” said graduate student Cara Tigue, lead author of the paper, published
online in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. “Throughout our evolutionary
history, it would have been important for our ancestors to pay attention to cues to good
leadership, because group leaders affected a person's ability to survive and reproduce
within a group. We're looking at it in a present-day, 21st-century context.”
To test voice-related perceptions, the researchers manipulated archival recordings of US
presidents, creating lower- and higher-pitched versions of each voice.
They played the altered recordings for test subjects and asked them to rate their
perceptions of the speakers' attractiveness, leadership potential, honesty, intelligence
and dominance. They also asked subjects which version of the voice they would prefer
to vote for, both in peacetime and wartime.
Though the motivations were different, in all cases they preferred candidates with
lower-pitched voices.
While political strategists have long taken voice-pitch into account in presenting their
candidates, the premise that voters prefer men with lower-pitched voices had never
been scientifically tested until now.
While voice-pitch is not the only influence on voters, the researchers say, their study
shows it is clearly part of the decision-making process.
“One of the implications of our research is that voters may take it into account when
making voting decisions,” said Tigue.
Earlier research that looked at US presidential candidates between 1960 and 2000 found
that in all eight elections, the candidate with the lower voice had won the popular vote.
Other studies had concluded that both men and women find lower-pitched voices more
attractive.
Subjects consider men with low-pitched voices to be both more attractive and more
dominant, but the new research shows that it's the perception of dominance that has a
greater influence on voting decisions.
“People think we want to vote for men with lower-pitched voices because they're more
attractive,” said David Feinberg, the McMaster psychology professor who supervised the
research, “but it's because people perceive them as better leaders and more dominant,
not just because they're attractive.”
Feinberg says future projects will look at perceptions of Canadian politicians and female
politicians.
Funding for the research was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council, the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ministry of Research and
Innovation.