Self-rated attractiveness predicts individual differences in women’s preferences for masculine men’s voices

Masculine physical traits may signal men’s underlying health and are associated with indices of men’s reproductive fitness. Here we show that preferences for low (i.e. masculine) pitch in men’s voices are positively related to self-rated attractiveness among women who are not using hormonal contraceptives. This relationship between masculinity preferences and self-rated attractiveness was evident when women judged the attractiveness of men’s voices that were played forward, but was not present when women judged the attractiveness of men’s voices that had been reversed. This variation in women’s preferences for masculinized men’s voices complements previous studies showing positive relationships between preferences for masculinity in men’s faces and women’s self-rated attractiveness and may be adaptive if attractive women are better able to attract and/or retain masculine mates. Interestingly, we observed no significant relationships between preferences for masculinized men’s voices and self-rated attractiveness among women using hormonal contraceptives. These latter null findings are consistent with previous studies in which potentially adaptive variation in masculinity preferences were also absent among women using hormonal contraceptives.