Work

Hadza Men With Lower Voice Pitch Have a Better Hunting Reputation

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: Previous research with hunter-gatherers has found that women perceive men with voices manipulated to be lower in pitch to be better hunters, and men perceive women with lower pitch to be better gatherers. Here, we test if actual voice pitch is associated with hunting and gathering reputations in men and women, respectively. We find that voice pitch does relate to foraging reputation in men, but not in women, with better hunters having a lower voice pitch. In addition, we find that the previously documented relationship between voice pitch and reproductive success no longer holds when controlling for hunting reputation, but hunting reputation remains a significant predictor of reproductive success when controlling for voice pitch. This raises the possibility that voice pitch is being selected for in hunter-gatherers because of the relationship between voice pitch and hunting reputation.

Source: Evolutionary Psychology

DOI: 10.1177/1474704917740466

Authors: Kristopher M. Smith, Yevgeniy M. Olkhov, David A. Puts, Coren L. Apicella

Institutions: University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Pennsylvania State University

Language: English

Topic: Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,000

Funders: National Science Foundation, Harvard University