No evidence that men's voice pitch signals formidability

We strongly disagree with Puts and Aung’s [1] claim that empirical data support pitch functioning as an honest signal of men’s formidability. First, we will outline the evidence for our view, as well as evidence suggesting voice pitch does not reliably signal two other aspects of phenotypic condition in men (immunocompetence and semen quality). Second, we will describe recent empirical work supporting our suggestion that associations between voice pitch and perceptions of men’s dominance are driven by the mistaken belief on the part of the perceiver that larger men have lower-pitched voices. Third, we will discuss some reasons why such misattributions may be maintained.