Study finds deeper male voices not more attractive when women see the speaker

A new study from Durham University has revealed that a deeper-than-average male voice may not increase attractiveness when women can see the speaker. While such a voice can make men appear stronger, better at fighting, and more socially dominant, it does not seem to boost their overall desirability according to heterosexual women. The findings, published in Royal Society Open Science on September 23, 2026, challenge the popular belief that vocal depth automatically makes a man more appealing.

Researchers James E Rutter and Lynda G Boothroyd conducted two experiments. In the first, they filmed 17 men aged 19 to 32 standing in full view and manipulated their voices to create 12 different versions, varying in pitch and resonance. Heterosexual women rated the attractiveness of these altered voices, which ranged from very deep to high-pitched.

The results showed no significant difference in attractiveness ratings between the deep and average voices, with the women preferring the high-pitched versions less. The effect was driven by a dislike of feminized vocal manipulations rather than a preference for extremely masculine voices.

In the second experiment, 542 men aged 18 to 36 estimated the speakers' weight or height after watching the videos. The deeper and more masculine voices slightly increased weight estimates, but did not significantly change perceived height. However, the researchers emphasized that physical appearance played a much larger role, accounting for 12% to 38% of the variation in judgments, while vocal changes contributed only 1% to 5%.