Is the Bias in Favor of Leaders with Lower Voices a Threat to Democracy?

• In Event: How Voters View Congress

Abstract

How we select our leaders is largely based on factors such as ideology, partisanship, and candidates’ positions on specific issues such as the economy and foreign policy. It has also been shown, however, that voters make thin impressionistic judgments based on subtler candidate characteristics. For example, voters prefer candidates with lower pitched voices. This has been demonstrated in both experiments and real elections. Subsequent research shows that voters are biased in this way because they perceive candidates with lower voices as more competent. To date, however, whether individuals with lower voices are more competent leaders has not been tested. This calls into question whether the preference for leaders with lower voices causes us to select better leaders. This study will address this question by compiling multiple measures of
leadership ability and voice pitch from Members of the United States Congress.

Author

• Casey A. Klofstad, University of Miami