Science

Deeper Male Voices Boost Perceived Dominance, Not Attractiveness, Study Finds

By TOI Science Desk

A new study by Durham University researchers James E Rutter and Lynda G Boothroyd, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science on September 23, 2026, found that women did not rate men with deeper-than-average voices as more attractive when they could also see the men’s bodies. The study, titled “Low voice pitch, when accompanied by video, increases perceived dominance but not attractiveness,” examined whether the appeal of a deep male voice would hold when listeners could see the speaker. Researchers filmed 17 men aged 19 to 32 counting from one to five and digitally altered their voices to create 12 versions of each video, ranging from very deep to high‑pitched. A total of 1,466 U.S. adults aged 18 to 36 participated. Heterosexual women rated the men’s attractiveness, while male participants judged physical strength or fighting ability, and another group assessed social dominance. Women rated high‑pitched versions less favorably, but deeper voices did not significantly improve attractiveness ratings compared with average voices. The researchers noted that listeners’ dislike of feminised vocal manipulations, rather than a preference for extremely masculine voices, drove the overall pattern. In contrast, deeper voices consistently increased ratings of strength, fighting ability, and social dominance. Viewers also estimated that men with lower voices weighed slightly more, though the effect was small and did not affect height estimates. A second experiment with 542 men aged 18 to 36 confirmed that lower pitch nudged weight estimates upward but did not change perceived height. The study emphasized that physical appearance mattered far more than vocal changes: silent videos explained 12% to 38% of the variation in judgments, while voice characteristics accounted for only 1% to 5%. The findings suggest that a deeper male voice may serve more of a dominance or competition-related function than an attraction-related one, adding nuance to the debate over why men’s voices deepen during puberty. The researchers acknowledged limitations, including the use of only 17 white British men and short, controlled recordings of counting, and noted that everyday speech and emotional expression could influence attractiveness judgments. The study does not claim that women generally dislike deep voices, but it shows that when a man’s full body is visible, a deeper-than-average voice does not provide a clear additional advantage in women’s attractiveness ratings.