Acoustic Correlates of Perceived versus Actual Sexual Orientation in Men’s Speech

Bibliographic Data

ID23316629
AuthorsSue Ellen Linville (Marquette University, corresponding author)
Year1998
Volume50
Issue1
Pages35-48
Publication date1998-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFolia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1021-7762 • E-ISSN: 1421-9972
PublisherS. Karger AG (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.1159/000021447
PMID9509737
OpenAlexW2046039188
LanguageEN
Citations received79
References cited9

The purpose of this study was to explore possible differences in the speech patterns of gay and straight men, both as a function of perceived and actual sexual orientation. Tape recordings of monologue readings from 5 openly gay men and 4 straight men were played to 25 listeners for judgments of perceived sexual orientation. Monologues were analyzed in terms of /s/ duration, /s/ peak frequency, modal speaking fundamental frequency, speech rate, and long-term average speech spectra. Listeners correctly identified the sexual orientation ofthese speakers at a rate of 79.6%. Multiple regression analysis revealed that gay judgments were significantly associated with higher peak /s/ frequency values and longer /s/ duration values. Acoustic cues associated with perceived sexual orientation generally agreed with acoustic findings as a function of actual sexual orientation. While these results must be interpreted cautiously, findings suggest that members of the community of openly gay men demonstrate certain speech characteristics that are discernible to listeners.

Acoustics · Audiology · Developmental psychology · Duration (music) · Orientation (vector space) · Sexual orientation · Hearing Loss and Rehabilitation · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Mathematics · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology · Speech and Audio Processing

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