Abstract
Robust evidence shows that voice quality affects various social interactions, including mate preferences. Previous research found that male voices perceived as attractive are characterised by low voice pitch, lower or sexually typical formants, and relatively high breathiness.
These features tend to be seen as markers of an individual's quality as a potential mate. Although there are considerable differences between languages in vocal parameters which could influence the perceived attractiveness, the abovementioned findings rely on research based mainly on participants from European or North American countries.
In our study, we therefore tested the main acoustic predictors of vocal attractiveness using two male samples from Cameroon and Namibia. Standardised vocal recordings were then assessed for vocal attractiveness by a panel of female raters from the Czech Republic.
Our results show that in the Cameroonian voices, fundamental frequency was strongly negatively associated with perceived vocal attractiveness. In the Namibian sample, however, it was not the fundamental frequency but lower mean formants and Harmonics-to-Noise Ratio which were negatively associated with vocal attractiveness.
This pattern may be partly attributed to differences in morphological characteristics such as body mass index and indicates a variation across individual populations.