High-pitched female voices encourage male risk-taking, but only if men think it boosts their attractiveness. When men believed women preferred men who are not prone to risk-taking, the opposite effect was observed.
High-pitched female voices encourage male risk-taking, but only if men think it boosts their attractiveness. When men believed women preferred men who are not prone to risk-taking, the opposite effect was observed.
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I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019188692400268X
From the linked article:
Two experiments in China examined the effects of female voice pitch on male risk-taking behavior. One experiment indicated that high-pitched female voices made men more likely to take risks. The second experiment showed this effect occurred only when men believed risk-taking would increase their attractiveness to women. When men believed women preferred men who are not prone to risk-taking, the opposite effect was observed. The research was published in Personality and Individual Differences.
The results of the first study showed that participants who listened to a high-pitched female voice ran more yellow lights compared to those who listened to the low-pitched voice. The difference was significant, indicating that the high-pitched voice strongly encouraged risk-taking behavior.
In the second study, the effects of the high-pitched female voice depended on context. In the group that was told women prefer men prone to risk-taking, the high-pitched voice increased risk-taking behavior. However, in the group that read the text suggesting women prefer men who are not risk-takers, the high-pitched voice led to much less risk-taking.
“The results revealed that high-pitched female voices promoted male risk-taking behavior, and there was an interaction between voice pitch and sociocultural background. The study demonstrates that individual psychology and behavior are influenced not only by evolutionary factors but also significantly by the socio-cultural context of their development. Male risk-taking behavior exhibits situational sensitivity and results from both natural and cultural adaptations,” the study authors concluded.
So boiling this down, the big takeaway is that men attempt to impress women they are attracted to and are prone to risk-taking behavior?
Why do more correlative psychology studies get posted in r/science than actual science?
Do the same study with cup size instead of vocal pitch.
I’m sure this isn’t the only thing men change to impress and I’m sure women also change their behavior to impress.