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Modern voice preferences among wide cross-cultural sample clarifies evolutionary origins, with lower pitches seen as more attractive and formidable [psu.edu]:

If you're looking for a long-term relationship or to boost your social status, lower your pitch, according to researchers studying the effects of voice pitch on social perceptions. They found that lower voice pitch makes women and men sound more attractive to potential long-term partners, and lower voice pitch in males makes the individual sound more formidable and prestigious among other men.

[...] "Vocal communication is one of the most important human characteristics, and pitch is the most perceptually noticeable aspect of voice," said David Puts, study co-author and professor of anthropology at Penn State. "Understanding how voice pitch influences social perceptions can help us understand social relationships more broadly, how we attain social status, how we evaluate others on social status and how we choose mates."

[...] The researchers found that women and men preferred lower-pitched voices when asked which voice they would prefer for a long-term relationship such as marriage. They also found that a lower male voice pitch made the individual sound more formidable, especially among younger men, and more prestigious, particularly among older men. Perceptions of formidability and prestige had a larger impact in societies with more relational mobility — where group members interact more often with strangers — and more violence.

[...] The fact that study participants across cultures perceived a lower male voice pitch as conferring formidability and high social status suggests that these characteristics were likely conferred to our ancestors as well, said Puts, who is co-funded by the Social Science Research Institute at Penn State. He likened the effect to that of Darth Vader's voice in the Star Wars franchise: no matter where the character goes in the galaxy, his low pitch is perceived as formidable because larger beings tend to produce lower frequencies.

"The findings suggest that deep voices evolved in males because our male ancestors frequently interacted with competitors who were strangers, and they show how we can use evolutionary thinking and research from nonhuman animals to predict and understand how our psychology and behaviors vary across social contexts, including cross-culturally," Puts said. "Male traits such as deep voices and beards are highly socially salient, but this new research shows that the salience of at least one of these traits varies in predictable ways across societies, and it suggests that others, such as beards, do too."

[...] "This study suggests that voice pitch is relevant to social perceptions across societies," Puts said. "But it also shows that the extent of our attention to voice pitch when making social attributions is variable across societies and responsive to relevant sociocultural variables. In a society where there's higher relational mobility and you have less direct information about your competitors, people appear to be more attentive to an easily identifiable, recognizable signal like voice pitch."

Journal Reference:
Aung, T., Hill, A. K., Hlay, J. K., et al. (2024). Effects of Voice Pitch on Social Perceptions Vary With Relational Mobility and Homicide Rate. Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976231222288 [doi.org]

Original Submission