Voters prefer deep-voiced politicians

Previous research showed voters prefer taller candidates and U.S. researchers now say both men and women prefer political candidates with deeper voices. Rindy Anderson, a biologist at Duke University, said the results suggest biology -- not just partisanship or ideology -- can shape voters' choices. "We often make snap judgments about candidates without full knowledge of their policies or positions. These findings might help explain why," Anderson said in a statement. "It's clear that our voices carry more information than the words we speak. Knowing this can help us understand the factors that influence our social interactions and possibly why there are fewer women elected to high-level political positions." Anderson -- along with Susan Peters, a biologist at Duke, and University of Miami political scientist Casey Klofstad -- recorded men and women saying, "I urge you to vote for me this November." The scientists then edited each recording to create a higher- and lower-pitched version of the original. The researchers played the recordings of the female voices to 37 men and 46 women at the University of Miami, and the male voices to 49 men and 40 women at Duke. They found both men and women "elected" the candidates with the lower-pitched voices, regardless of the speaker's gender. The findings appear in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.