A team from the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior at McMaster University has reported research that indicates the choice of a political electee is determined by how deep the candidate’s voice is. This subliminal cue is associated with an evolutionary preference for deep voiced leaders according to the research that was published at the on-line journal Evolution and Human Behavior on November 14, 2011.
A manipulation of the voice quality of archived speeches by United States Presidents indicated an overwhelming preference for deep voiced males.
The evolutionary aspect is most probably learned.
In ancient times the deeper voiced male not only had a probability of being heard and perhaps heeded by his family group or clan but a deep voice is also indicative of preferential reproductive status among the females in the listening audience.
The candidate for U.S. President with the lower voice has won from 1960 to 2000.
Voice is not all there is to getting elected but subliminal evolutionary learning is indicated to play a role that cannot be overcome by rhetoric or BS. On must also consider that elections occur in the middle of college football season that is much more important emotionally than the Presidency.
The research was reviewed at the Eureka Alert web site on November 14, 2011.
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