Bizarre reason men with deeper voices are more likely to cheat on their partner
Topics: Science, Sex and Relationships, Life
Emily Brown
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Karl Tapales
Topics: Science, Sex and Relationships, Life
After studies revealed that men with deeper voices may be more likely to cheat on their partners, researchers have offered insight into exactly why this might be the case.
The explanations about the increased infidelity among men with deep voices came after two different studies found correlations between the two factors; the first in 2020, and the second in 2021.
In the 2020 study, conducted by Southwest University in Chongqing, China, 116 men and 145 women with an average age of 20 were questioned about their attitudes to monogamy and commitment, while also having the pitch of their voices measured.
After studying the findings, the researchers explained that men with deeper voices - described by the researchers as 'masculine men' - are 'more likely to engage in infidelity and commit less to their romantic relationships compared with feminine men'.
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Findings published in Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology in 2021 revealed similar conclusions, after researchers looked at an existing dataset and found that both men and women with lower average fundamental frequency (F0) in their voices were more likely to report past cheating behavior.
Those with lower voices also reported a higher number of sexual partners outside a committed relationship.
When the team, consisting of researcher Christoph Schild and his associates, looked into why men with lower voices might be more likely to cheat, they found that 'lower mean F0 predicted lower vocal attractiveness, which in turn predicted a higher likelihood of self-reported infidelity.'
Essentially, men with lower voices were suggested to be attractive to more women, consequently paving the way for more sexual partners.
Researchers in the 2020 study reached a similar conclusion, writing: "From the point of view of evolutionary psychology, men with masculine voices may enhance their status among other men or their attractiveness to women...
"Thereby increasing their chances of obtaining more or higher-quality partners."
Those researchers also suggested testosterone may have a part to play, as they wrote: "Testosterone and the characteristics dependent on testosterone can be reliable indicators of quality-dependent conditions or behaviours…
"Therefore, men with higher testosterone levels, and hence lower voices, may have more infidelity behaviours or less commitment to their romantic relationship."
Researchers have noted that further studies would be needed to learn more about the apparent link between voice and infidelity, but for now maybe think twice the next time you find yourself charmed by a smooth-talking, deep-voiced stranger.
Even if they are only the star of the latest rom-com.