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It’s not what you say, but how you say it, right? The way people talk determines, among other things, whether we listen to what the other person has to say and, for example, whether we like them. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, wondered whether people agree more with each other depending on the type of vocalization. Their study revealed a surprising finding: Preferences for singing and speaking voices are highly individual. The results have recently been published in the journal “Royal Society Open Science.”
To find out what aesthetic effect different vocalizations have on their recipients, the research team first created a set of audio recordings with short melody excerpts performed by 22 professional singers in three different singing styles: lullaby, pop, and operatic singing. They also spoke the same words in two different variations: one as if they were addressing an adult and the other as if they were addressing a baby.
A total of 62 participants came to the Institute and listened to the recordings. They were asked to rate how much they liked each recording. The researchers were interested in not only individual preferences, but also in whether there would be higher consensus on some vocalization styles than others. The researchers expected, for example, that lullabies, which are generally perceived as more natural or universal, would lead to higher consensus (or shared taste) than operatic singing, which is a more artificial type of singing.
“As expected, there was higher shared taste (or agreement) for lullabies than for pop songs, but surprisingly, there was an equivalent amount of shared taste for lullabies and for operatic singing. We also suspected that there would be an equal amount of agreement for both types of speech, but found that there was a greater consensus for speech aimed at children than for speech aimed at adults—probably because many found the vocalization aimed at children annoying,” reports first author Camila Bruder from the MPIEA.
Are Some Voices Fundamentally More Likeable?
The researchers also tested whether some singers were consistently preferred across all styles of singing. They compared the ranking of singers across all singing styles and found that it varied depending on the style, leading the team to conclude that some voices were better received in certain styles than others.
The study showed that preferences for different types of vocalizations are highly individual. However, for a detailed understanding of the underlying mechanisms, further research with a broad approach is needed. Among others, the expertise of a study participant in the evaluation of voices—e.g., a person with specific knowledge of opera singing—is of interest to the researchers. Equally promising is a study with a wider range of vocalizations, such as rap or poetry.
“Future research should aim to further characterize voice preferences in an integrative way–measured in different geographical, linguistic and cultural contexts,” concludes Camila Bruder.
Camila Bruder
Bruder, C., Frieler, K., & Larrouy-Maestri, P. (2024). Valuation of Singing and Speaking Voices Is Highly Idiosyncratic. Royal Society Open Science. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.241623
A lullaby, a pop song, an opera performance and two speaking styles: study participants had to rate ...
Lorna Bittner
MPI für empirische Ästhetik / L. Bittner
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