Voice pitch is negatively associated with sociosexual behavior in males but not in females.

Acoustic cues play a major role in social interactions in many animal species. In addition to the semantic contents of human speech, voice attributes - e.g., voice pitch, formant position, formant dispersion, etc. - have been proposed to provide critical information for the assessment of potential rivals and mates. However, prior studies exploring the association of acoustic attributes with reproductive success, or some of its proxies, have produced mixed results. Here, we investigate whether the mean fundamental frequency (F0), formant position (Pf), and formant dispersion (Df) - dimorphic attributes of the human voice - are related to sociosexuality, as measured by the Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R) - a trait also known to exhibit sex differences - in a sample of native Spanish-speaking students (101 males, 147 females). Analyses showed a significant negative correlation between F0 and sociosexual behavior, and between Pf and sociosexual desire in males but not in females. These correlations remained significant after correcting for false discovery rate (FDR) and controlling for age, a potential confounding variable. Our results are consistent with a role of F0 and Pf serving as cues in the mating domain in males but not in females. Alternatively, the association of voice attributes and sociosexual orientation might stem from the parallel effect of male sex hormones both on the male brain and the anatomical structures involved in voice production.

Reliability and Validity of the Colombian Version of the Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory.

Sociosexuality refers to an individual's disposition to have casual sex without establishing affective bonds and has been widely studied worldwide using the Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R; Penke & Asendorpf, 2008). Despite its many validations in different cultural contexts, no psychometric analyses of this instrument have been conducted in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries. To address this gap in the literature, we examined the psychometric properties of the SOI-R in Colombia. In a cross-sectional study with a large sample of participants (N = 812; 64% women), we conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to identify different factor structures and determine which had the best fit for our sample and examined the reliability of the scale. Results showed that a three-factor structure, with sociosexual behaviors, attitudes, and desire as first-order factors, and global sociosexuality as a second-order factor, had the best fit indexes. Each factor presented good reliability indexes. Replicating already established gender differences, we also found that men scored higher on each factor when compared to women. These findings show that the SOI-R is a reliable and valid instrument to assess sociosexuality in countries where sociosexuality research is underrepresented.

Long-Term Mating Orientation in Men: The Role of Socioeconomic Status, Protection Skills, and Parenthood Disposition.

From an evolutionary perspective, phenotypic, social, and environmental factors help to shape the different costs and benefits of pursuing different reproductive strategies (or a mixture of them) from one individual to another. Since men's reproductive success is mainly constrained to women's availability, their mating orientations should be partially calibrated by features that women prefer in a potential partner. For long-term relationships, women prefer traits that signal access to resources, protection skills, and the willingness to share them. Using generalized linear models with laboratory data taken from a Chilean population (N = 197), this study aimed to test whether real and potential resources (measured as self-reported socioeconomic status), protection skills (measured as handgrip strength), and the willingness to provide resources and protection (measured as their disposition toward parenthood) are related to mating orientation in men. Our predictions were: (1) socioeconomic status would be positively associated with long-term and short-term mating orientation but for long-term-oriented individuals, this would be enhanced by having a more favorable parenthood disposition and (2) strength would be positively related to long-term mating orientation in men with higher socioeconomic status and a favorable disposition toward parenthood and it would have a positive and direct association with short-term mating orientation. Our results partially supported the first hypothesis, since men with higher socioeconomic status were more long-term oriented, but parenting disposition did not moderate this effect. Contrary to our expectations, socioeconomic status was not related to short-term mating orientation. Strength appeared not to be significant for long-term mating orientation, even interacting with other traits. However, strength by itself was powerfully linked with a short-term mating orientation. Our results suggest that only some individuals that are attractive for long-term relationships are indeed long-term oriented and may reflect the overall conflict of interests between mating strategies among sexes.

Influence of Sexual Genotype and Gender Self-Perception on Sociosexuality and Self-Esteem among Transgender People.

Empirical data from studies with both heterosexual and homosexual individuals have consistently indicated different tendencies in mating behavior. However, transgenders' data are often overlooked. This exploratory study compared levels of sociosexuality and self-esteem between transgenders and non-transgender (cisgender) individuals. The aim was to verify whether either sexual genotype or gender self-perception had more influence on the examined variables in transgenders. Correlations between self-esteem and sociosexuality levels were also investigated. The sample consisted of 120 Brazilian individuals (51 transgenders) from both sexes. Sociosexuality scores indicated mostly sex-typical patterns for transgenders of both sexes across the construct's three dimensions (behavior, attitude, and desire), except for female-to-male transgenders' behavioral sociosexuality. Unique associations between the dimensions of sociosexuality were found for transgender participants. No differences in self-esteem were observed and no correlations between self-esteem and sociosexuality were found. The results suggest that transgenders' sociosexuality is largely influenced by their sexual genotype despite their incongruent gender self-perception and that the relationships between behavior, attitude, and sociosexual desire are different from those observed in cisgenders.

Vocal Parameters of Speech and Singing Covary and Are Related to Vocal Attractiveness, Body Measures, and Sociosexuality: A Cross-Cultural Study.

Perceived vocal attractiveness and measured sex-dimorphic vocal parameters are both associated with underlying individual qualities. Research tends to focus on speech but singing is another highly evolved communication system that has distinct and universal features with analogs in other species, and it is relevant in mating. Both speaking and singing voice provides relevant information about its producer. We tested whether speech and singing function as "backup signals" that indicate similar underlying qualities. Using a sample of 81 men and 86 women from Brazil and the Czech Republic, we investigated vocal attractiveness rated from speech and singing and its association with fundamental frequency (F0), apparent vocal tract length (VTL), body characteristics, and sociosexuality. F0, VTL, and rated attractiveness of singing and speaking voice strongly correlated within the same individual. Lower-pitched speech in men, higher-pitched speech and singing in women, individuals who like to sing more, and singing of individuals with a higher pitch modulation were perceived as more attractive. In men, physical size positively predicted speech and singing attractiveness. Male speech but not singing attractiveness was associated with higher sociosexuality. Lower-pitched male speech was related to higher sociosexuality, while lower-pitched male singing was linked to lower sociosexuality. Similarly, shorter speech VTL and longer singing VTL predicted higher sociosexuality in women. Different vocal displays function as "backup signals" cueing to attractiveness and body size, but their relation to sexual strategies in men and women differs. Both singing and speech may indicate evolutionarily relevant individual qualities shaped by sexual selection.

Promiscuity is related to masculine and feminine body traits in both men and women: evidence from Brazilian and Czech samples.

One of the possible explanations for human within-sex variation in promiscuity stems from conditional strategies dependent on the level of body sex-dimorphism. There is some evidence that masculine men and feminine women are more promiscuous than their sex-atypical counterparts, although mixed results persist. Moreover, another line of evidence shows that more promiscuous women are rather sex-atypical. We tested whether diverse sex-dimorphic body measures (2D:4D, WHR/WSR, handgrip strength, and height and weight) influence sociosexual desires, attitudes, promiscuous behavior, and age of first intercourse in a sex-typical or sex-atypical direction. Participants were 185 young adults, 51 men and 54 women from Brazil, and 40 men and 40 women from the Czech Republic. In men stronger handgrip and more feminine 2D:4D predicted higher sociosexual behaviors, desires, and lower age of the first sexual intercourse. While in women, sociosexual desires were predicted by lower handgrip strength and more feminine 2D:4D. It thus seems that it is rather a mixture of masculine and feminine traits in men, and feminine traits in women that increase their sociosexuality. Masculine traits (height) predicting female promiscuous behavior were specific for only one population. In conclusion, a mosaic combination of sex-typical but also sex-atypical independent body traits can lead to higher promiscuity, particularly in men. Limitations, implications, and future directions for research are considered. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Neotropical Behaviour.