These findings could have important implications for women who seek positions of leadership.

Effective and convincing speeches are critical to campaigning for elected office, but do our voices affect how we select our leaders? The latest research from both the University of Miami and Duke may surprise you, but it gives us a clue to the extremely subtle – yet very powerful- ways we are influenced when making a decision. 

A new study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences shows that men and women vote for male and female candidates with lower-pitched voices. Men and women with lower voices were also found to be perceived as more competent, stronger, and more trustworthy. Each of these attributes is known to influence voters.

“Our study asks how voice pitch influences electability, and to my knowledge is the first to examine the voices of both male and female candidates,” says Casey Klofstad, associate professor of Political Science at the University of Miami. “For example, we found that men and women perceive lower pitched female voices to be more competent and stronger. In contrast, only men perceive lower pitched male voices to be more competent and stronger.”

These findings suggest that men and women with lower voices may be more successful in obtaining positions of leadership. The results also raise the possibility that the electability of female candidates could be influenced by the fact that women tend to have higher-pitched voices than men. This study also shows that while people are free to choose their leaders, these choices cannot be understood in isolation from biological influences. Subtle cues may have profound influence in our decision-making ability.

Knowledge is truly power, though. The more we learn of the ways we can be influenced – both consciously and unconsciously – the better chance we have to increase the likelihood of making the most authentic decisions possible.

March 15, 2011
The Healthy Mind Network

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The above story contains original content and/or information reprinted and editorially adapted by The Healthy Mind. Material is provided by the University of Miami and EurekAlerts. 

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