择偶与人类嗓音

本文对择偶与人类嗓音之间的关系进行了深入分析。首先, 人类具有普遍的异性嗓音偏好：男性偏爱高音调的女性嗓音, 女性偏爱低音调的男性嗓音, 这种普遍偏好受到一系列跟自身婚配价值有关的因素的调节。其次, 人类的嗓音偏好跟嗓音背后的进化意义密切关联：女性化嗓音是女性生育力的线索, 而男性化嗓音是男性好基因和好资源的线索。而且, 富有吸引力的男性嗓音和女性嗓音能够预测个体的性行为和繁殖成功。再次, 富有有吸引力的人类嗓音影响个体的社会认知, 对亲密关系的维系也会带来消极影响。最后, 我们探讨了未来研究的若干方向：研究基频之外的其他嗓音参数, 探讨嗓音偏好的性选择机制、特殊群体的嗓音偏好, 以及嗓音偏好与其他认知过程的关系。

Mate Choice and Human Voice

In this paper, we review relevant studies to develop the evolutionary hypothesis that voice quality is related to human mating behavior and that this relationship extends to other domains of human social living. Both men and women show preferences for certain voice quality of the opposite sex. In general, males prefer high-pitched female voice, and females prefer low-pitched male voice. This voice preference results in the carriers having differential reproductive success. We analyze this phenomenon for men and women, respectively. A low voice pitch is partly caused by a longer vocal track due to the descent of the larynx in adolescence that results in smaller formant dispersion. The lowered position of the larynx is associated with higher rates of choking which therefore serves as an honest indicator of good genes. The lowering of the larynx is also associated with increased testosterone which is an indicator of good genes as well as intra-sex combativeness and competitiveness. Thus, sexual selection through female choice, which is mainly for good genes but also male-male competitiveness and thus good provisioning, provides the mechanism underlying the female preference for low pitched male voice. The more straightforward evolutionary explanation of male preference for high pitched female voice is that high pitch indicates fertility and, because of concealed human ovulation, men develop heightened sensitivity over fertility indicators such as high pitched voice. We review these theories and the relevant empirical research supporting the association between the quality of voice and mating success. Beyond mating behavior, we also show that the effect of voice quality extends to other domains by affecting social cognition of and for the target persons with some of the effects being negative. In the end, we discuss a number of directions for future research, including the use of additional voice parameters other than fundamental frequency, the application of sexual selection in analyzing mainstream research on intimate relationships, and the potential relationship between voice preferences and such cognitive processes as attention and memory.