In fact, it's a common phenomenon for someone to change pitch of their voice when talking to someone they're romantically interested in, and it's all because they want to make that love connection, a study says.
It's an evolutionary response for men to calmly raise their vocal pitch when speaking to a member of the opposite sex, he says. It conveys tenderness, trustworthiness, and lack of aggression. (And you do the same thing around kids, he adds.)
The authors of the study, which was published in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, concluded that this unconscious changing of tone "represents desire for affiliation and intimacy" and is a "way to communicate affection and relational connection." So don't feel awkward by your deep flirting voice.
Apart from anatomy, stress, anxiety, excitement (any emotion that causes us to move from baseline), causes our voice to increase in pitch. When people become frightened or excited, the muscles around the voice box (or larynx) unconsciously contract, putting strain on the vocal cords, making the pitch higher.
Researchers found that, "Both sexes used a lower-pitched voice and showed a higher level of physiological arousal when speaking to the more attractive, opposite-sex target.
Girls' bodies produce testosterone too, but not as much as boys' do. Their bodies also produce another hormone called estrogen (ESS-tro-jen). These hormones make girls' vocal cords get bigger during puberty, but they don't grow as big as boys'. So girls' voices sound higher.
Their study revealed that males find female voices that indicate a smaller body size—high-pitched, breathy voices with wide formant spacing—most attractive. Females, on the other hand, prefer to hear a low-pitched voice with narrow formant spacing, reflecting a larger body size.
When we get nervous or anxious, our pitch generally rises because of increased tension in the throat area. When you combine anxiety with having to increase the volume of your voice for a presentation to a large room, you may also get a very high-pitched voice.
After about age 30, you start to lose muscle mass all over your body, a phenomenon called sarcopenia. Your vocal folds aren't spared from this shrinkage, Hunter says. As the muscle fibers within the folds become less bulky, your voice sounds higher.
The study authors theorize that men's voices instinctively deepen in order to appear more masculine to the opposite sex, but they also implement the varied pitch so they're less threatening.
She said people with positive feelings towards each other began to display a phenomenon called phonetic convergence. "The voices of the two people who are speaking to each other, if they are attracted to each other or if they experience positive emotions towards each other, they start becoming more similar," she said.
"Raising your voice is perfectly normal in couples experiencing conflict," says George. "We raise our voices as emotion increases and also when we are having difficulty expressing feelings and needs. When arguments escalate, so can voices."
A study conducted in Europe found that voices of men and women change in pitch when speaking with an attractive person.
He makes an effort in the conversations you have.
If his voice seems to trail off when the two of you are talking, it's not likely he is interested in you. But if his voice is deep and present, and asking questions about what you are saying; he is probably crushing on you too.
When asked to rate the voice's attractiveness on a 1 to 5 scale, the men preferred the voices that suggested a smaller female. Past a certain point, though, higher voices were judged as no more attractive that slightly deeper ones.
"When a woman naturally lowers her voice, it may be perceived as her attempt to sound more seductive or attractive, and therefore serves as a signal of her romantic interest," she adds. Their research also measured people's awareness of the changes in others' voices.
A surprising number of English words describe comments that are short to the point of rudeness: curt, terse, brusque, snappish.
Your voice during puberty
Puberty is a process of sexual maturation. A voice change is one of the secondary sexual characteristics adolescents develop. In boys, this happens between ages 12 and 16; in girls, between ages 10 and 14.
The only permanent and confirmed ways to deepen your voice are hormonal therapy and surgery, and those are a bit over-the-top for people who just want a slightly lower pitch.
Anyone who speaks can get a psychogenic voice disorder. The psychological effects of trauma can impact the voice. Other mental impairments can cause psychogenic voice disorders. Fear of speaking in front of a large group of people may make a person temporarily lose their voice.
When someone is depressed, their range of pitch and volume drop, so they tend to speak lower, flatter and softer. Speech also sounds labored, with more pauses, starts and stops. Another key indicator is the tension or relaxation of the vocal cords, which can make speech sound strained or breathy.
Gonadal and thyroid hormones play a major role in voice alterations, and all other hormonal axes do have a minor role in the production of the voice. The hormonal influence on voice persists throughout the lifespan of an individual and is different in males and females.
Husky voices signal "sexual interest" and can help women stand out from the crowd, say researchers. Perhaps less surprisingly, the study found men also drop their pitch when they meet women they are attracted to.
According to a 2013 study, men prefer women with higher-pitched voices because it signals that the woman has a small body size (sigh). Likewise, women reportedly prefer men with low-pitched voices, signalling a larger frame.
"When you wake up, your vocal folds need to warm up just like the rest of you," says Pitman. "Before a runner goes out, they stretch and run slowly to get the blood flowing.