December 14, 2012 10:34 am
We Prefer Our Leaders to Have Deep Voices, Even If They Are Women
Photo: Margaret Thatcher Foundation
At the start of her political career, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took elocution lessons to lower her voice. Her advisors told her the public would find a more masculine and authoritative voice to be more appealing. They were right. New research shows that both men and women prefer political or business leaders – including women – to have lower voices, The Telegraph reports.
To arrive at this finding, scientists used simulated elections for two feminine leadership roles, president of the PTA and leadership on a school board. Volunteers listened to candidates with differently pitched voices saying “I urge you to vote for me this November.”
Both men and women preferred the candidates with lower, more masculine voices. In other words, our biology may be influencing our decision making when it comes to how we select our leaders.
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Is it really biology that motivates us to deeper voices in leaders? What about socio-cultural evolution? What about psycho-social evolution? Wymin have been disallowed to hold leadership roles for thousands of years and we have grown accustomed to the “male voice” in leadership. It is the “male voice” we have grown accustomed to in times of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty in our communities. Then, doesn’t it make sense that, because of sexism in society, we now prefer the “male voice”?
Comment by Vyctorya — December 17, 2012 @ 7:32 pm