The Effects of Pitch Manipulation on Male Ratings of Female Speakers and Their Voices
Vocal and facial cues typically co-occur in natural settings, and multisensory processing of voice and face relies on their synchronous presentation. Psychological research has examined various facial and vocal cues to attractiveness as well as to judgements of sexual dimorphism, health, and age. Ho...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.911854/full |
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| author | Christina Krumpholz Christina Krumpholz Cliodhna Quigley Cliodhna Quigley Karsan Ameen Christoph Reuter Christoph Reuter Leonida Fusani Leonida Fusani Leonida Fusani Helmut Leder Helmut Leder |
| author_facet | Christina Krumpholz Christina Krumpholz Cliodhna Quigley Cliodhna Quigley Karsan Ameen Christoph Reuter Christoph Reuter Leonida Fusani Leonida Fusani Leonida Fusani Helmut Leder Helmut Leder |
| author_sort | Christina Krumpholz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Vocal and facial cues typically co-occur in natural settings, and multisensory processing of voice and face relies on their synchronous presentation. Psychological research has examined various facial and vocal cues to attractiveness as well as to judgements of sexual dimorphism, health, and age. However, few studies have investigated the interaction of vocal and facial cues in attractiveness judgments under naturalistic conditions using dynamic, ecologically valid stimuli. Here, we used short videos or audio tracks of females speaking full sentences and used a manipulation of voice pitch to investigate cross-modal interactions of voice pitch on facial attractiveness and related ratings. Male participants had to rate attractiveness, femininity, age, and health of synchronized audio-video recordings or voices only, with either original or modified voice pitch. We expected audio stimuli with increased voice pitch to be rated as more attractive, more feminine, healthier, and younger. If auditory judgements cross-modally influence judgements of facial attributes, we additionally expected the voice pitch manipulation to affect ratings of audiovisual stimulus material. We tested 106 male participants in a within-subject design in two sessions. Analyses revealed that voice recordings with increased voice pitch were perceived to be more feminine and younger, but not more attractive or healthier. When coupled with video recordings, increased pitch lowered perceived age of faces, but did not significantly influence perceived attractiveness, femininity, or health. Our results suggest that our manipulation of voice pitch has a measurable impact on judgements of femininity and age, but does not measurably influence vocal and facial attractiveness in naturalistic conditions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:49:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-925371623cfe4d0399a0e7f158ecc713 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:49:08Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-925371623cfe4d0399a0e7f158ecc7132022-12-22T02:44:24ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-07-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.911854911854The Effects of Pitch Manipulation on Male Ratings of Female Speakers and Their VoicesChristina Krumpholz0Christina Krumpholz1Cliodhna Quigley2Cliodhna Quigley3Karsan Ameen4Christoph Reuter5Christoph Reuter6Leonida Fusani7Leonida Fusani8Leonida Fusani9Helmut Leder10Helmut Leder11Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaKonrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Behavioural and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaVienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaVienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Musicology, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaKonrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Behavioural and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaVienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaVienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaVocal and facial cues typically co-occur in natural settings, and multisensory processing of voice and face relies on their synchronous presentation. Psychological research has examined various facial and vocal cues to attractiveness as well as to judgements of sexual dimorphism, health, and age. However, few studies have investigated the interaction of vocal and facial cues in attractiveness judgments under naturalistic conditions using dynamic, ecologically valid stimuli. Here, we used short videos or audio tracks of females speaking full sentences and used a manipulation of voice pitch to investigate cross-modal interactions of voice pitch on facial attractiveness and related ratings. Male participants had to rate attractiveness, femininity, age, and health of synchronized audio-video recordings or voices only, with either original or modified voice pitch. We expected audio stimuli with increased voice pitch to be rated as more attractive, more feminine, healthier, and younger. If auditory judgements cross-modally influence judgements of facial attributes, we additionally expected the voice pitch manipulation to affect ratings of audiovisual stimulus material. We tested 106 male participants in a within-subject design in two sessions. Analyses revealed that voice recordings with increased voice pitch were perceived to be more feminine and younger, but not more attractive or healthier. When coupled with video recordings, increased pitch lowered perceived age of faces, but did not significantly influence perceived attractiveness, femininity, or health. Our results suggest that our manipulation of voice pitch has a measurable impact on judgements of femininity and age, but does not measurably influence vocal and facial attractiveness in naturalistic conditions.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.911854/fullcross-modal attractivenessvoicesexual dimorphismfemininityhealthage |
| spellingShingle | Christina Krumpholz Christina Krumpholz Cliodhna Quigley Cliodhna Quigley Karsan Ameen Christoph Reuter Christoph Reuter Leonida Fusani Leonida Fusani Leonida Fusani Helmut Leder Helmut Leder The Effects of Pitch Manipulation on Male Ratings of Female Speakers and Their Voices Frontiers in Psychology cross-modal attractiveness voice sexual dimorphism femininity health age |
| title | The Effects of Pitch Manipulation on Male Ratings of Female Speakers and Their Voices |
| title_full | The Effects of Pitch Manipulation on Male Ratings of Female Speakers and Their Voices |
| title_fullStr | The Effects of Pitch Manipulation on Male Ratings of Female Speakers and Their Voices |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Effects of Pitch Manipulation on Male Ratings of Female Speakers and Their Voices |
| title_short | The Effects of Pitch Manipulation on Male Ratings of Female Speakers and Their Voices |
| title_sort | effects of pitch manipulation on male ratings of female speakers and their voices |
| topic | cross-modal attractiveness voice sexual dimorphism femininity health age |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.911854/full |
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