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People Will Know We Are in Love: Evidence of Differences Between Vocal Samples Directed Toward Lovers and Friends

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Abstract

Research has documented the tendency for individuals to change their voices as a function of different emotional and motivational states, but little attention has been devoted to examining voice modulation in romantic relationships. The present research was conducted to determine (1) the way in which individuals alter their voices when speaking to romantic partners versus friends and (2) if independent raters perceive these differences. Independent raters (N = 80) listened to vocal clips obtained from telephone calls directed toward close same-sex friends and romantic partners. For several clips, raters were able to identify conversational partner (romantic versus friend) with greater than chance accuracy, and this accuracy was positively correlated with vocal pitch and perceived romantic interest. In addition, raters who listened to content-filtered clips judged callers less favorably when talking to their romantic partners than their friends. Results are interpreted in light of the “longing” but vulnerable condition of intense romantic love, and integrated into affection exchange theory and communication accommodation theory.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Judy Hall and Miles Patterson for their guidance on earlier versions of this manuscript, and Lisa Stickney for her assistance with Visio. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sally Farley.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Applied Behavioral Sciences, University of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA

    Sally D. Farley

  2. Department of Psychology, Albright College, 13th and Bern Streets, Reading, PA, 19612, USA

    Susan M. Hughes

  3. Institutional Research, Albright College, 13th and Bern Streets, Reading, PA, 19612, USA

    Jack N. LaFayette

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  1. Sally D. Farley
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  2. Susan M. Hughes
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Correspondence to Sally D. Farley.

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Farley, S.D., Hughes, S.M. & LaFayette, J.N. People Will Know We Are in Love: Evidence of Differences Between Vocal Samples Directed Toward Lovers and Friends. J Nonverbal Behav 37, 123–138 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-013-0151-3

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