Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 26, 2025
05:48
Author Spotlight: Investigating the Impact of Emotional Prosodies on Voice Recognition and Perception
Published on: August 9, 2024
1.7K
Gender context modulation on the self-enhancement effect of vocal attractiveness evaluation
Zhikang Peng1,2, Zhiguo Hu1,3,4, Xinyu Wang2
1Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
Psych Journal
|July 29, 2021
Summary
People enhance their own voice attractiveness more in same-sex contexts. This self-enhancement effect for vocal attractiveness differs based on gender and rating context.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Acoustic analysis
- Social perception
Background:
- Individuals often exhibit self-enhancement, perceiving their own attributes more favorably than others do.
- Vocal attractiveness judgments can be influenced by various factors, including the listener and the speaker's characteristics.
- The impact of social context, specifically gender dynamics, on self-perception of vocal qualities is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how gender context (same-sex vs. opposite-sex) influences self-enhancement effects in voice attractiveness evaluations.
- To determine if self-enhancement from the rater's perspective (SE_rater) and the voice's perspective (SE_voice) are affected by gender context.
- To compare self-enhancement effects for male and female voices within same-sex and opposite-sex rating scenarios.
Main Methods:
- Participants (male and female) rated the attractiveness of their own and others' voices.
- Ratings were conducted in either same-sex or opposite-sex evaluation sessions.
- Statistical analyses were used to compare self-enhancement effects across different gender contexts and for male and female voices.
Main Results:
- Both self-enhancement from the rater's perspective (SE_rater) and the voice's perspective (SE_voice) were present in both same-sex and opposite-sex contexts.
- SE_rater for male voices was significantly higher in the same-sex context compared to the opposite-sex context.
- SE_voice in men was larger in same-sex contexts, while in women, it was smaller in same-sex contexts compared to opposite-sex contexts.
Conclusions:
- The gender context significantly modulates the self-enhancement effect in vocal attractiveness judgments.
- Self-perception of voice attractiveness is influenced by the gender composition of the rating environment.
- These findings highlight the role of social and gender factors in self-evaluation of auditory attributes.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
03:00Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
5.5K
Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...
5.5K
02:05Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
41.8K
People can go to great lengths to protect their self-image and present themselves in ways that they want others to see them. Sociologist Erving Goffman presented the idea that a person is like an actor on a stage. Calling his theory dramaturgy, Goffman believed that we use “impression management” to present ourselves to others as we hope to be perceived. Each situation is a new scene, and individuals perform different roles depending on who is present (Goffman, 1959). Think about...
41.8K
01:17Strategies of Self-Presentation II: Self-Verification
30
Self-verification is a fundamental psychological drive wherein individuals seek affirmation of their self-concept from others, striving for consistency between their internal self-view and external perceptions. This drive operates even when the self-concept is negative, influencing interpersonal behavior and feedback preferences in complex and often counterintuitive ways. Unlike the self-enhancement motive, which seeks positive evaluations, self-verification prioritizes coherence and...
30
01:29Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model
65
The Self-Evaluation Maintenance (SEM) model offers a psychological framework to understand how individuals’ self-esteem is influenced by the achievements of others, particularly those with whom they share close personal bonds. The SEM model operates when personal rather than social identity guides individuals. Central to this model is the notion that individuals have an inherent desire to preserve a favorable self-image, which is continuously shaped by interpersonal comparisons and...
65
01:30Social Foundations of Self III: Self-Evaluation
33
Self-evaluation is the process by which individuals assess their abilities, behaviors, and characteristics based on feedback from others. Charles H. Cooley observed that a person’s self-perception is primarily influenced by how others see and judge them. He suggested that individuals form their identities based on their interpretations of others' reactions. As a result, social interactions play a crucial role in shaping self-esteem and personal identity. These external evaluations often...
33
01:24Sources of Self-Esteem II: Performance Feedback
35
Self-esteem is intricately tied to our perception of competence and our ability to exert control over our lives. One of the primary sources of this perception is performance feedback — the ongoing evaluation of our actions in terms of success and failure. According to Franks and Marolla (1976), people derive self-worth from experiencing themselves as causal agents, capable of achieving goals and overcoming obstacles. This process nurtures a critical component of self-esteem:...
35