Why deep-voiced men lower the tone when it comes to infidelity

THE alluring baritones of Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig left women falling at their feet in every James Bond film.

But 007’s love interests may have predicted his unfaithful behaviour from the moment he told them his name, after new research suggests men with deep voices are more likely to cheat. The study, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, found men with lower-toned voices were more likely to engage in infidelity and were less likely to be committed to a relationship than those with higherpitched voices.

For women, however, there were no noticeable difference in attitudes to cheating whether they had high or low pitched voices.

“In our present study, we found that voice characteristics can be a reliable clue to infidelity and relationship commitment; this conclusion can provide some guidance for them to seek a partner and avoid being hurt,” the researchers s ai d. The researchers, f rom Southwest University, Chongqing, China, conducted the experiment involving more than 250 male and female volunteers.

The volunteers were asked to read out a list of words, which were recorded and then analysed for the various kinds of frequency and pitch that are influenced by a number of factors, including the shape of the mouth, their larynx and levels of testosterone.

Then the volunteers – all young, heterosexual adults in good health and who were non-smokers – took a psychological test with questions on their attitudes to fidelity and relationships, such as how they felt about cheating on a partner. Previous studies found women are often attracted to men with low, rich voices because they are associated with high testosterone levels which, in evolutionary terms, suggests they will be a good mate for producing healthy children. But the latest findings revealed the higher hormone levels were also likely to make him less committed to a relationship and to hold more liberal attitudes to cheating on a partner. The researchers found men with deeper voices were less committed to their romantic relationships and more likely to be unfaithful, suggesting that testosterone is the key factor, according to the researchers. “Men with higher testosterone levels, and hence, lower voices, may have more infidelity behaviours or less commitment to their romantic relationship,” the reported.

Having an attractive deep voice could be part of the problem, they added, as it made them more attractive to women which increased their opportunity for sexual encounters outside of their own romantic relationship.

But the researchers added that studies of older men and women were needed to see if the findings carried across different age ranges and in longer-term relationships.