Showing up late with no explanation, dodging phone calls, or being evasive when you ask them questions could all be signs that your significant other is cheating on you. But there may also be some physical qualities that could tip you off that your partner is likely to stray. According to recent research published in the journal Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, the answer to whether or not your partner is more likely to cheat may not be in their phone or emails, but rather in their voice. Read on to learn what to listen for, and for more on factors that could be warning signs, check out If Your Partner Has These 4 Qualities, They’re More Likely to Cheat on You.
Both men and women with deeper voices reported committing more instances of infidelity.
ShutterstockThe researchers behind the recent report, which was published in Oct. 2020, conducted a meta-analysis that examined voice recordings from 865 participants across three datasets, including 550 women and 315 men. They analyzed each recording according to their fundamental frequency (F0), which measures the perceived pitch of a voice, as well as self-reported instances of cheating from each participant, PsyPost reports.
Results showed that while two datasets did not show any correlation between voice pitch and cheating history, one found that both men and women with deeper voices were more likely to have reported cheating on their significant other in the past, as well as having a higher number of casual sexual partners who were not part of an established relationship.
And for another red flag you should listen for, If Your Partner Is Asking You This One Question, They Could Be Cheating.
Women may unknowingly be able to predict a man's likelihood of cheating by their voice.
ShutterstockPrevious research conducted by the study's author, Christoph Schild, PhD, found women were able to accurately predict a male speaker’s cheating tendencies based on the pitch of his voice. Additionally, this recent study found that women ranked lower male voices as less attractive, but the same was not found for men ranking the attractiveness of women. As a result, the study's authors suggest that deeper voices may be a cue that women use to judge whether a man is likely to cheat or not to avoid the emotional costs of becoming involved with an unfaithful significant other.
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Other studies have found links between men with deeper voices and cheating, but this is the first to link it to women as well.
iStockThis is not the first study to link the tone of someone's voice to their propensity for stepping outside their relationship. Similar research published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences in Sept. 2020 examined the association between male vocal characteristics and their fidelity by recording the voices of 116 men and 145 women to gauge their pitch. The researchers then gave participants a self-reported questionnaire that asked how likely they were to remain faithful to their partners on a scale from one to seven.
While there was no strong correlation between female vocal pitches and infidelity, the findings showed a strong correlation between deep male voices and the likelihood of cheating. "This result might suggest that masculine voices and infidelity development in men have the same biological basis, that is, they are influenced by testosterone levels," the study authors noted. And for more signs it might be time to rethink your relationship, check out If You and Your Partner Can't Agree on This, It's Time to Break Up.
"Masculine characteristics" in both men and women could be a sign they're likely to cheat.
iStockThe study's authors point out that other findings have linked "masculine traits" to an increased perceived attractiveness and a greater number of sexual partners, which could set them up to be unfaithful in relationships.
Similarly, 2019 research published the journal Royal Society Open Science surveyed heterosexual white people, and asked them to judge the facial features of 189 white adults via photographs as to whether or not they would be unfaithful. They had 293 men and 472 women evaluate pictures of women, and 299 men and 452 women assess images of men, rating them on a scale of one to 10 in regards how likely they thought each person was to cheat. Additionally, in previous research, those in the photos had reported whether or not they had cheated or “poached” a partner from someone else. Their photos had also already been rated for attractiveness, untrustworthiness, and how masculine or feminine they appeared. After looking at the ratings and the correlating information, the results showed that both men and women accurately identified unfaithfulness in the men pictured, and they found the standout feature was how masculine they looked.
"Raters were making accurate judgements of unfaithfulness from men's faces using facial masculinity, a well-established signal of propensity to adopt short-term mating strategies," the authors concluded. And for more on when men tend to cheat, according to data, check out This Is the Age When Married Men Are Most Likely to Cheat.
