How a boy's voice at age seven can tell you what he will sound like as a man

  • Scientists believe male vocal frequency may be 'decided in the womb'
  • University of Sussex researchers said pitch determined by age seven
  • It means boys with deep voices at that age will retain them as adults 
  • Deeper voices tend to be associated with more positive attributes in men 

Scientists at the University of Sussex believe the pitch of a boy's voice is determined by age seven (file picture)

It has traditionally been thought that the sound of a boy’s voice radically changes when he hits puberty.

But now scientists have found that whether a man will have a deep, gruff voice like Brian Blessed or a higher pitched one like Joe Pasquale is decided much earlier – probably in the womb.

British research using voice samples from the long-running Seven Up! television documentary series has found the male voice settles at a certain frequency much earlier than previously thought.

Psychologists at the University of Sussex carried out research that found the voice pitch of males was often determined by the age of seven, rather than when puberty hit.

Put simply, boys with deeper voices at seven ended up with deeper voices when they got older, and those with higher pitched voices kept relatively higher pitched tones.

While it may seem trivial, how one’s voice sounds can affect a huge range of judgements people will make about a man – including how attractive he is thought to be, how masculine, how competent and likeable.

In general, deeper voices tend to be associated with more positive attributes in men such as desirability.

Of course, men with higher pitched voices may also be considered highly attractive - such as the footballer David Beckham.

Researchers examined vocal changes using interview footage from Seven Up!, the popular TV series which has charted the lives of 14 children since they were aged seven in 1964.

Analysis was carried out on the voices of the 10 men who took part in the programme, which featured children from different walks of life going through the trials and tribulations of adulthood.

The study, published the Royal Society journal Open Science, found that while their vocal pitch did drop dramatically between the ages of seven and 21, their vocal pitch at age seven still strongly predicted their pitch at every subsequent adult age.

Men with deeper voices are often considered more attractive, although some men with higher pitched voices such as David Beckham, picture, buck that trend

Men with deeper voices are often considered more attractive, although some men with higher pitched voices such as David Beckham, picture, buck that trend

Dr David Reby, from the University of Sussex, said: ‘These results show that individual differences in men’s voice pitch remain remarkably stable throughout the lifetime and, in fact, emerge long before sexual maturation and pubertal influences on the vocal anatomy.

‘Ultimately what this means is that voice pitch in males may be linked to levels of androgen exposure early in life, possibly even in the mother’s womb.’

Dr Kasia Pisanski, research fellow at the University of Sussex, added: 'These results have huge implications on how men are perceived by others throughout their adult life, as a large body of research has shown that voice pitch affects people’s judgements of attractiveness, masculinity, dominance, competence, likeability and trustworthiness.

‘Given that listeners also attribute certain traits to adolescents and even to babies with high or low-pitched voices, as well as to adults, a child’s voice pitch could potentially predict how that person will be perceived by their peers well into adulthood.’

The next film in the series 63 Up is expected in 2019. 

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