Vocally cued personality prototypes: An implicit personality theory approach

Abstract

Competence and benevolence are two personality prototypes that have emerged in research on voice and personality. While traits comprising these prototypes have been described, there is incomplete information about the interaction effects of speech rate, pitch variation, and loudness during impression formation processes. Five hypotheses and three research questions were advanced to examine main and interaction effects of the three vocal variables on the two personality prototypes. The main effects hypotheses were significant for both prototypes. Rate and pitch variation were the most influential for competence and benevolence, respectively. For competence, one interaction effect (rate by pitch variation) was significant. For benevolence, two interaction effects were significant (pitch variation by loudness, and pitch variation by rate). The results are discussed in the theoretical framework provided by implicit personality theory and the structures of the two personality prototypes.

Notes

George B. Ray is Assistant Professor of Speech, Transylvania University. The author wishes to thank Malcolm R. Parks, Joseph N. Cappella, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript, and Eileen Berlin Ray and Steve Thomson for their assistance in data analysis.