How a woman’s voice inspires men to risk their lives: new research

There’s science behind the irresistible siren call.

From the majestic peacock mating dance to the Trojan War, men will do some pretty silly things to impress a woman, but the lengths they’ll go to to lock up their lady love also depends from its attractive abilities, suggests a new study.

A study published in Personality and Individual Differences found that men are more willing to risk seducing women with a loud voice, but only if she’s into it. Further tests revealed that when women appeared disinterested in risk-taking behavior, men tended to play it safer.

We see it all the time. Elaborate marriage proposals. Dangerous TikTok Challenges. “Bachelorette”. Evolutionary theory says that men who are willing to go out on a limb for a woman signal better quality genes and thus a more stable mating partner, but where they draw the line may also depend on the woman’s mate material.

A previous study of female attractiveness in relation to vocal pitch has found a preference among men for women with a high bubbly register compared to those who speak in low sultry tones. In the new study, researchers in China took these findings a step further by asking to what extent men will seek out such women.

They conducted two experiments asking young Chinese men to participate in hypothetical scenarios in virtual reality in which they were asked to receive cues from either a loud or a low-pitched female voice. The first test involved a driving simulation featuring a female voice for driving navigation and the choice to either slow down or go through a yellow traffic light.

The second test raised the virtual ante. Two groups of heterosexual men were assigned to listen to a marketing pitch from a woman’s voice in either a loud or a low voice. After the performance, they rated the orator’s voice for attractiveness. Male participants were then given statements about their preferences for women. Each man received one of two memos: that women want men who are “brave, strong, healthy, athletic, and masculine” or “patient, family-oriented, kind, considerate, and mature”—a designed to encourage risky behavior and others to discourage.

Finally, these men put on their virtual reality gear and were instructed to walk on a three-meter board, which was suspended from a digital height. The speed with which they completed the task was considered a measure of their risk-taking behavior.

The results of both tests showed that men were inspired to take big risks under the charm of a high-pitched female voice. However, male participants who were told that women preferred confident men during the second experiment was the only scenario in which the loud female voice was unrelated to riskier male behavior.

“The study shows that psychology and individual behavior are influenced not only by evolutionary factors, but also significantly by the socio-cultural context of their development. Conversely, risk-taking behavior exhibits situational sensitivity and results from both natural and cultural adaptations,” the study authors concluded in their report.