Women Perceive Men with Deep Voices as More Likely to Cheat, Less Suitable for Marriage

Women are more attracted to men with low-pitched voices even though they perceive them as more likely to cheat, a new study led by researchers from McMaster University in Canada suggests. For this reason, the participants indicated that while they were more interested in deep-voiced men for short term relationships, they saw husky-sounding males as unsuitable for marriage.

The study included 87 women who listened to men's voices manipulated electronically to sound higher or lower. They were then asked to select the voice they thought was more attractive for a long term relationship versus a short term relationship. They were also asked, based on the voices, who they thought was more likely to cheat on a romantic partner.

"The sound of someone's voice can affect how we think of them," Jillian O'Connor, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour and lead author of the study, said in a statement. "Until now, it's been unclear why women would like the voices of men who might cheat. But we found that the more women thought these men would cheat, the more they were attracted to them for a brief relationship when they are less worried about fidelity."

Published online in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, the report offers a look into the evolution of human voices and mate selection.

"From an evolutionary perspective, these perceptions of future sexual infidelity may be adaptive," explains David Feinberg, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour. "The consequences of infidelity are very high whether it is emotional or financial and this research suggests that humans have evolved as a protection mechanism to avoid long-term partners who may cheat."