Vocal fry may undermine the success of young women in the labor market.
Published
Journal Article
Vocal fry is speech that is low pitched and creaky sounding, and is increasingly common among young American females. Some argue that vocal fry enhances speaker labor market perceptions while others argue that vocal fry is perceived negatively and can damage job prospects. In a large national sample of American adults we find that vocal fry is interpreted negatively. Relative to a normal speaking voice, young adult female voices exhibiting vocal fry are perceived as less competent, less educated, less trustworthy, less attractive, and less hirable. The negative perceptions of vocal fry are stronger for female voices relative to male voices. These results suggest that young American females should avoid using vocal fry speech in order to maximize labor market opportunities.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Anderson, RC; Klofstad, CA; Mayew, WJ; Venkatachalam, M
Published Date
- January 2014
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 9 / 5
Start / End Page
- e97506 -
PubMed ID
- 24870387
Pubmed Central ID
- 24870387
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1932-6203
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 1932-6203
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0097506
Language
- eng