by: agata janiszewska, samantha godfrey, and jessica marquez

Puts, D. A., Gaulin S. J. C., & Verdolini, K. (2006). Dominance and the evolution of sexual dimorphism in human voice pitch. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27, 283 –

296.By: Agata Janiszewska, Samantha

Godfrey, and Jessica MarquezFor Dr. Mill’s Psych 310 Class, Spring

2011

Voice Pitch

Pu, D.A., Gaulin S.J., & Verdolini, K. (2006). Dominance and the evolution of sexual

dimorphism in human voice pith. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27, 283 - 296.

Study

• Evolution of voice pitch dimorphism

• Male pitch suggests dominance– Intrasexual selection– Intersexual selection



Methods

• 3 predictions:– Does voice pitch signal dominance to other males?– Is voice pitch change in response to circumstantial

dominance?– Does voice pitch increase mating success?

2 Groups: Raters & ParticipantsParticipants answered a survey read a passage out loud and then competed for a date.Raters answered questions on the participant’s dominance



Manipulation

• The recordings of participants

–Lowered version–Original version–Higher version



Results



Adapted from Puts et. al.

Conclusions

• Intra sexual selection had an influence on evolution of the dimorphic voice pitch

• Only the male voice pitch evolved (female baseline)– Lead to increased mating success– Made males better competitors for resources



• Strong points1. The extra information about voice pitch and the

equation2. voice pitch might be nervousness and relaxation

rather than a dominance display3. We found the manipulation of voice pitch with

the computer software very interesting



• Weak Points1. The measure of mating success is likely to be biased2. The study might have benefitted from having a

female control group3. We questioned the ratings of dominance. The scale

might have been to sensitive (0-100)

by: agata janiszewska, samantha godfrey, and jessica marquez

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