Elections are n’t won or lose on insurance policy point alone . There ’s also the candidate ’s personality to consider , their fundraising abilities , and … their tone of voice .
Casey Klofstad , a political scientist at the University of Miami , conducted two dissimilar studies on how representative pitch bear on vote , finding that lower - voiced prospect resonate well with voters . The studies , in the journalsPLOS ONEandPolitical Psychology , include both experimental setup where player listened to voices manipulated to be in high spirits and broken , and psychoanalysis of literal election solution from the 2012 U.S. House elections .
In several experiment with hundreds of study subject , participants vote in a mock election between candidates of unlike age and sexuality . Participants mind to two random candidates , both male or both female , saying “ I cheer you to vote for me this November , ” and choose which one of them they ’d be more likely to intrust and vote for . In another experiment , video of 796 candidate who ran for the House of Representatives in 2012 were take apart to determine the relative pitch of their spokesperson compared to their opponents .
participant were more eager to vote for candidates with down articulation , and candidate in the actual House election were generally more potential to win if they had a lower rake . However , when a male Congressional candidate faced off against a woman , the man was more likely to win if he had a higher voice . In one of the theoretical experiments , participants linked low-down voice to being secure and more competent leaders , as well as older , though that did n’t seem to weigh as much for electability . The deep - interpreter event was strongest when participants were judging candidates of their own gender — men voting for manpower , women voting for women .
The studies can turn out only a correlational statistics between deep - voiced prospect and electoral victory , and they could not determine whether those lower - vocalize nominee also happened to be more in force or charismatic leaders . However , it does bring up the possibility of a subtle preconception against high - pitched vox in politics . This may be particularly problematic for women , whose voices are doubly as mellow as men ’s , on average , and already present barriers toward winning power .
