Study May Explain Why Sarah Palin's High-Pitch Voice Is Attractive To Some

David Letterman has his "Stupid Dog Tricks" segment. I have my "Stupid Research" peeve.


The latest research pulp is women with high-pitched raspy voices prefer deep-voiced masculine males.


My immediate visionary response was Sarah and Todd Palin and Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt dancing before my very eyes.


"Scientists research the features that make people attractive because these reveal what physical and mental qualities we favor, shedding light on what forces drive human evolution," writes a reporter for Life Science.


 The obligatory findings of the research chief follows:

"People obviously prefer to marry and date people they consider attractive, but also are more likely to cooperate with attractive individuals, prefer to hire attractive people and even prefer to vote for those they think are attractive," said psychologist Benedict Jones at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.

Why is it so many of these "Why is their air?" questions studied by academics reside in the Euro nations? Jones continues:

"So, by understanding the factors that influence attractiveness judgments, we're really getting insights into something that's one of the most powerful driving forces behind social interactions."

The reporter:

Intriguingly, past research has shown that women with high-pitched voices are not only thought of as sounding more attractive but often have faces others consider more attractive as well. Further studies revealed these voices in women are often linked with higher estrogen levels, perhaps serving as a cue to their health and fertility. 

Earlier studies proved deep-voiced men tend to have more children than men who sing tenor or soprano. the reporter observed.

Makes sense. The Palins have five children. The Roosevelt's six.

The study was based on the reactions of 113 college coeds. Out of the group, the 20 women with the highest-pitched voices preferred masculine voices nearly 20% more on average than the 20 women with the lowest-pitched voices, including the male baritones who recorded the message "I don't like you."

"Effects like those in our study might simply reflect people finding their place in the mating market and taking that into account when judging others' attractiveness," Jones said.

I suppose that was a reason my marriage ended in dissolution since my wife spoke in a normal tone and the pitch of my voice reached higher octaves in fits of anger or excitement. 

I may follow Jones' advice. Next time I enter the market place seeking a low, sulky voice, I will speak with modulated voice of a, say, George Clooney or Fred Thompson.

Readers comments are welcome as long as they remain civil. We reserve the right to delete any comments that are vulgar, libelous and totally irrelevant to this posting. -- Jer