It's not about what your date is saying, but the pitch of their voice. If they lower their pitch, it could be a subtle, subconscious sign they find you attractive, the study, in The Royal Society Proceedings B journal, suggests. Experts say it is probably an evolutionary tool to attract a mate.
You might not have to wait for a guy to confess his feelings to get verbal confirmation that he's into you. According to a new study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, guys vary their vocal pitch, shifting between both high and low tones of voice, when talking to a woman they find attractive.
Scott Bea, a psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic, said the changes in pitch may have biological roots. Guys are going to talk in a low-pitched voice rather than a high-pitched voice in order to draw the attraction of female partners, he said.
Apparently, the reasoning behind this unconscious reaction is rooted in evolution. The study authors theorize that men's voices instinctively deepen in order to appear more masculine to the opposite sex, but they also implement the varied pitch so they're less threatening.
Listening to the recordings, the researchers noted a striking pattern: both men and women spoke with a slightly lower pitch if they were attracted to their date. Another finding: women only lowered their voice when speaking to a man they fancied, who'd also received favourable attention from other women in the room.
A 2010 study published in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, found that both men and women tend to lower their voices if they find someone they are conversing with attractive, although some experts suggest that women will make their voices even more high-pitched in the presence of a potential suitor, to accentuate ...
Turns out that's what most guys do. And so do most women. Researchers found that, "Both sexes used a lower-pitched voice and showed a higher level of physiological arousal when speaking to the more attractive, opposite-sex target.
At puberty, guys' bodies begin producing a lot of the hormone testosterone (pronounced: tes-TOSS-tuh-rone), which causes changes in several parts of the body, including the voice. For starters, a guy's larynx (pronounced: LAIR-inks), also known as the voice box, grows bigger.
His voice sounds deeper when he's talking to you
So, if you've found your man speaking to you in a deeper voice, it may be a sign that he's sexually drawn to you. The same thing happens with women. When women find themselves sexually drawn to a guy, they speak in a more high-pitched voice.
If you speak well of someone or speak highly of someone, you say good things about them. If you speak ill of someone, you criticize them.
"The voices of the two people who are speaking to each other, if they are attracted to each other or if they experience positive emotions towards each other, they start becoming more similar," she said. A person will change the way they speak to more closely mimic the other person.
A flirty voice is playful and light, sometimes sarcastic and witty. It gives you that tingle down your spine, and it makes the listener feel special, maybe even shy. It's the kind of voice you might hear on a TV network promo or commercial spot.
Men are more attracted to women with higher-pitched and breathy voices, as these seem to indicate smaller body size, a study published in Plos One suggests. Further research indicates that women who sound attractive usually are.
Sounding the same
Another phenomenon that may also cause changes in the way we speak when talking to a love interest is something called “phonetic convergence”. People who talk to each other tend to start sounding more similar, completely unaware they are doing so.
This may be a signal of submissiveness, to show the listener that you are not a threat, and to avoid possible confrontations. "These changes in our speech may be conscious or unconscious but voice characteristics appear to be an important way to communicate social status.
Can you feel when someone is attracted to you? Yes. When someone feels you are an attractive person, some things come up between you that aren't there otherwise. The clues aren't always obvious, but you can see some of them by paying attention.
He's likely to turn his body towards you when in conversation and to make eye contact with you. He may pay attention to you more than others that are around. He's also likely to try spending time with you more than with others when he's falling in love.
If someone smiles a lot when they look at you and connects eye contact with smiling, it is usually because they find you attractive. They might also make fun of you and tease you, or try to make you laugh. If someone's into you, you make them nervous. Their heart will beat rapidly from being around you.
So it tickled me to discover my voice was referenced in a recent dating study from the University of Sussex which found that men find a lower tone more attractive.
"When a woman naturally lowers her voice, it may be perceived as her attempt to sound more seductive or attractive, and therefore serves as a signal of her romantic interest," she adds. Their research also measured people's awareness of the changes in others' voices.
Edit: It just means he finds you appealing and therefore wants to treat you gently, since he views you as valuable. It could have to do with a more traditional perspective on women as well. So, in simple terms, it's a positive reaction to you.