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Deep-Voiced Men More Likely To Cheat, Yet Still Attract More Women: Study

Deep-Voiced Men More Likely To Cheat?
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Never mind the sweet guys and the handsome faces. Women are more attracted to men with deep voices, even if they're more likely to cheat on them, researchers said on Wednesday.

And that's not a problem for women interested in a short-term relationship, according to a psychology team at McMaster University.

The study, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences online, sheds light on the evolution of human voices and how we choose our mates.

“The sound of someone’s voice can affect how we think of them,” Jillian O’Connor, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour and lead author of the study, said in a statement.

“Until now, it’s been unclear why women would like the voices of men who might cheat. But we found that the more women thought these men would cheat, the more they were attracted to them for a brief relationship when they are less worried about fidelity.”

For the study, nearly 90 women listened to men’s voices that were manipulated electronically to sound higher or lower, and then picked who they thought was more likely to be unfaithful to their partners.

Researchers also asked the participants to choose the voice they thought was more attractive for a long-term relationship versus a short-term one.

“From an evolutionary perspective, these perceptions of future sexual infidelity may be adaptive,” said David Feinberg, an assistant professor in the department.

“The consequences of infidelity are very high whether it is emotional or financial and this research suggests that humans have evolved as a protection mechanism to avoid long-term partners who may cheat."

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