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Voice, Sexual Selection, and Reproductive Success

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Voice Attractiveness

Part of the book series: Prosody, Phonology and Phonetics ((PRPHPH))

Abstract

Beyond the linguistic content it conveys, voice is one of the fundamental aspects of human communication. It conveys an array of bio-psycho-social information about a speaker and enables the expression of a wide range of emotional and affective states so as to elicit a whole range of auditory impressions. Such aspects are of a great importance in determining the outcomes of competitive and courtship interactions as they influence the access to mating partners and thus reproduction. Sexual selection, the mechanism that promotes biological and social traits that confer a reproductive benefit, provides an interesting theoretical framework to understand the functional role of the human voice from an evolutionary perspective. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the research that lies at the crossroad of the human voice and evolutionary biology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier, University of Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut pour la Recherche et le Développement, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier, France

    Alexandre Suire, Michel Raymond & Melissa Barkat-Defradas

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  1. Alexandre Suire
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  2. Michel Raymond
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  3. Melissa Barkat-Defradas
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Correspondence to Alexandre Suire .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Benjamin Weiss

  2. Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany

    Jürgen Trouvain

  3. ISEM, Montpellier, France

    Melissa Barkat-Defradas

  4. International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA

    John J. Ohala

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Suire, A., Raymond, M., Barkat-Defradas, M. (2021). Voice, Sexual Selection, and Reproductive Success. In: Weiss, B., Trouvain, J., Barkat-Defradas, M., Ohala, J.J. (eds) Voice Attractiveness. Prosody, Phonology and Phonetics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6627-1_7

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