Notes

Gendered tone of voice
Women’s voices are often characterized by higher pitch and softer tones, aligning with societal expectations of femininity,

whereas men’s voices tend to be deeper and resonate more, reflecting masculine ideals (Köylü, 2016).

Examining the typical voice characteristics associated with gender reveals differences in fundamental acoustic components, particularly in frequency and formants.

Lower-frequency voices are often perceived as more masculine,

while higher-frequency voices are associated with femininity (Pisanski and Bryant, 2019).

The larger larynx, longer vocal tracts, and lower-frequency voices commonly found in men are linked with masculine traits (Ohala, 1983, 1984).

Therefore, tone of voice is a component cue for impression formation (Zimman, 2018), can influence the perception of attributes such as age, body size (see Puts et al., 2012; Pisanski and Bryant, 2019), attractiveness, intelligence and competency (Fraccaro et al., 2013; Hughes et al., 2014; Leongómez et al., 2014).

Research has indicated that, individuals with thin and sharp voices may be perceived as less trustworthy, less tense, and less emotional,

while slower speakers might be viewed as less reliable, less credible, and less open (Apple et al., 1979).

Despite women generally having higher-pitched voices, both women and men with voices that align with gender expectations are often considered attractive (Feinberg, 2008; Pisanski and Bryant, 2019).

Another study found that lower voice pitch is associated with attributions of dominance and trustworthiness to the speaker (McAleer et al., 2014). Klofstad et al. (2012) demonstrated that participants were more likely to perceive a candidate as competent and trustworthy when speaking at a lower pitch, regardless of gender.

Similarly, Borkowska and Pawlowski (2011) found that both men and women with lower-pitched voices were perceived as more dominant and trustworthy.

Furthermore, Tsantani et al. (2016) found that lower-pitched voices were consistently perceived as more trustworthy, especially for female speakers.

However, for dominance, while lower-pitched male voices were preferred, there was no significant difference for female speakers. Moreover, Oleszkiewicz et al. (2016) reported conflicting results regarding female voice pitch. They found that lower-pitched female voices were rated as more competent but less warm compared to higher-pitched voices, adding complexity to the understanding of voice pitch in impression formation. Additionally, there are no studies showing the effect of voice tone on mechanical and animalistic dehumanization. Overall, the evidence on the role of female voice pitch in impression formation is inconclusive and requires further investigation.