University Student Preferences in Voice Characteristics
Connie K. Keintz, Ph.D., Natalia Barrero, M.S., & Katrina Van Lieu, M.S.
A normal voice is characterized by adequate loudness, flexibility to express emotion, pleasantness, and a representation of
the speaker’s age and gender (Boone, McFarlane, Von Berg, & Zraick, 2010) . Voice qualities are subjective and individual
listeners may have different opinions on what is and is not preferred in a voice. The purpose of this study was to obtain rankings of preferred and non-preferred voice and to determine which vocal characteristics might be attributed to each.
An initial survey was conducted on the internet for people residing in the U.S. over the age of 18 who were asked to write the
name of the most appealing and least appealing male and female voices. This initial survey data was utilized to construct
male and female lists which included the five most/least preferred male and female voices. These lists became part of a paper survey completed by students at a university in southern Florida who ranked these voices as most to least appealing.
Respondents were also asked to provide a one-word description of each voice. “Voice” was defined as the sounds made by
the vocal folds during speaking and this definition did not include what the person says (words used) or how the person says
it (accent). The responses of 541 surveys (282 female and 259 male) revealed the following ranking and results:
Most Preferred Male Voices
(Highest Scores)
1.Morgan Freeman
2.George Clooney
3.Sean Connery
4.Barack Obama
5.James Earl Jones
Least Preferred Male Voices
(Lowest Scores)
1.Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens)
2.Gilbert Gottfried
3.George W. Bush
4.Rush Limbaugh
5.Ray Romano
Common characteristics:
Most preferred male voice
Smooth, Deep, Soothing
Most preferred female voices
Sweet, Gentle, Smooth
Least preferred male voices
Nasal, High-Pitched, Animated
`
Least preferred female voices
Nasal, Loud, Raspy
Most Preferred Female Voices
(Highest Scores)
1.Julia Roberts
2.Jennifer Aniston
3.Catherine Zeta-Jones
4.Julie Andrews
5.Katie Couric
Least Preferred Female Voices
(Lowest Scores)
1.Fran Drescher
2.Roseanne Barr
3.Rosie O’Donnell
4.Kathy Griffin
5.Sarah Palin
While voice qualities are subjectively viewed by listeners, there are characteristics which appear to be more or less preferred.
Most listeners in this survey responded positively to smooth, soothing voices and negatively to loud, voices with a nasal quality. Further examination of listener gender may reveal male/female preferences as well.
Contact Author: [email protected]
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