Voice And Personality: What Link Is There?

In recent years, several studies have shown the link between voice and personality. It seems that sometimes the voice encompasses different personalities. The psychoanalyst Malden Dolar argues that through the voice we express the I that we want to appear, the I that we hide and even an I that we do not know.

Apparently, the voice enjoys a certain independence. We are not always aware of what we transmit with the sounds we emit. The voice can hide emotions and personality traits through tone, speed, resonance and other factors that we analyze below.

But the reverse also happens. For the listener, the voice is a very useful tool to judge or to get an immediate and unconscious idea of ​​the person in front of you.

390 milliseconds of voice are enough for a human being to get an idea of ​​the personality of his interlocutor. And without realizing it. These are the results obtained by Phil McAleer and his colleagues at the University of Glasgow. This fact seems to respond to evolutionary factors that the human species has developed to immediately understand if it can trust someone or not.

The tone and speed of the voice

Generally speaking, the tone of voice is lower when the situation is sad or melancholy. We also lower our voices to speak more slowly. On the contrary, we raise our tone of voice in moments of joy, but also when we are nervous. In these situations there is also a tendency to speak faster.

Regardless of the situation, the tone of voice hides some of the most important personality traits. The most energetic, self-confident and authoritarian people will have a grave voice. The more dependent, insecure and less active people, on the other hand, have high-pitched voices.

It has also been found that verbal fluency is linked to mental quickness. If it is too fast, it can hide the need not to leak certain data, which generates anxiety and tension. If it is too slow, it conveys a lack of interest. When someone intentionally tries to hide their true identity, the speed feels unnatural and too smooth.

Voice and personality: resonance and articulation of sounds

They are other aspects that provide a lot of information about an individual’s personality and emotional state. Using the pharyngeal resonance cavity can reveal tension, emotional problems and aggression. The nasal cavity, on the other hand, is used by the most sensitive people. The oral cavity is associated with narcissistic personalities.

The articulation of the voice depends on the relationship one has with others. When it is vague or inaccurate, it can project an image of falsehood and / or respond to poor mental organization. If it is very exaggerated, it could respond to narcissistic personality patterns.

We also know that in the absence of an organic disorder, when you want to be understood and the ideas are clear, the articulation is well defined.

Vocal range and intensity

Vocal range is the amount of notes a person is able to make. It is mainly related to character, and can also be a showcase for emotions. A reduced vocal range indicates a rigid character, excessive emotional control and a poor sense of humor.

If the vocal range is wide, it conveys joy and empathy, but if it is excessive and uncontrolled, it reveals a lack of emotional control.

The intensity of the voice shows us the management of personal limits and of others. Low intensity usually accompanies a lack of assertiveness, but it can also signal shame or guilt. If the intensity is high, it can correspond to the lack of control of the strongest emotions, such as joy or anger.

Voice and personality

The different characteristics of the voice can give us different information about a person’s personality and emotional state. Voice is a human barometer. Whenever we speak, we activate muscles that respond to the central and peripheral nervous systems, systems that include the emotional-affective sphere.

It is said that the eyes are the mirror of the soul, but as we have seen in this article, the voice can also be a mirror, and no less precise. The work of therapists is interesting, such as the psychologist Alfred Tomatis, who argues that improving the voice has a positive effect on the personality.

Working on the voice to improve it, in fact, could be a way to modify the personal characteristics that limit us or that we consider a problem.