scholarly journals No clear evidence for correlations between handgrip strength and sexually dimorphic acoustic properties of voices

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengyang Han ◽  
Hongyi Wang ◽  
Vanessa Fasolt ◽  
Amanda C Hahn ◽  
Iris J Holzleitner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Handgrip Strength ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Physical Strength ◽  
Signal Value ◽  
Body Strength ◽  
Upper Body Strength

AbstractObjectivesRecent research on the signal value of masculine physical characteristics in men has focused on the possibility that such characteristics are valid cues of physical strength. However, evidence that sexually dimorphic vocal characteristics are correlated with physical strength is equivocal. Consequently, we undertook a further test for possible relationships between physical strength and masculine vocal characteristics.MethodsWe tested the putative relationships between White UK (N=115) and Chinese (N=106) participants’ handgrip strength (a widely used proxy for general upper-body strength) and five sexually dimorphic acoustic properties of voices: fundamental frequency (F0), fundamental frequency’s standard deviation (F0-SD), formant dispersion (Df), formant position (Pf), and estimated vocal-tract length (VTL).ResultsAnalyses revealed no clear evidence that stronger individuals had more masculine voices.ConclusionsOur results do not support the hypothesis that masculine vocal characteristics are a valid cue of physical strength.

scholarly journals Masculine voices signal men's threat potential in forager and industrial societies

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1728) ◽  
pp. 601-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Puts ◽  
Coren L. Apicella ◽  
Rodrigo A. Cárdenas
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Acoustic Parameter ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Sexual Dimorphisms ◽  
Body Strength ◽  
The Us ◽  
Upper Body Strength ◽  
Industrial Societies

Humans and many non-human primates exhibit large sexual dimorphisms in vocalizations and vocal anatomy. In humans, same-sex competitors and potential mates attend to acoustic features of male vocalizations, but vocal masculinity especially increases perceptions of physical prowess. Yet, the information content of male vocalizations remains obscure. We therefore examined relationships between sexually dimorphic acoustic properties and men's threat potential. We first introduce a new measure of the structure of vocal formant frequencies, ‘formant position’ ( P f ), which we show is more sexually dimorphic and more strongly related to height than is the most widely used measure of formant structure, ‘formant dispersion’, in both a US sample and a sample of Hadza foragers from Tanzania. We also show large sexual dimorphisms in the mean fundamental frequency ( F 0 ) and the within-utterance standard deviation in F 0 ( F 0 − s.d.) in both samples. We then explore relationships between these acoustic parameters and men's body size, strength, testosterone and physical aggressiveness. Each acoustic parameter was related to at least one measure of male threat potential. The most dimorphic parameters, F 0 and P f , were most strongly related to body size in both samples. In the US sample, F 0 predicted testosterone levels, P f predicted upper body strength and F 0 − s.d. predicted physical aggressiveness.

scholarly journals Profiling and predicting performance of indoor rock climbers

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Arazi ◽  
Amir Rashidlamir ◽  
Mohammad Zahed Abolhasani ◽  
Somayeh Askari Hosaini
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Regression ◽  
Handgrip Strength ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Stepwise Multiple Regression ◽  
Balance Test ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Body Strength ◽  
Upper Body Strength ◽  
Climbing Ability

The aim of this study is to establish somatotype and profile the anthropometric and biomotor characteristics of indoor rock climbers. Fourteen elite level male and ten recreational female Iranian indoor rock climbers completed a battery of tests. All anthropometric measurements were performed according to the recommendations of international standards for anthropometric assessment. Upper body strength and endurance were assessed by isometric tests. Explosive power and balance were also evaluated by Sargent jump and Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT), respectively. Samples’ somatotypes were calculated by the method of Heath and Carter. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and partial correlations were calculated and stepwise multiple regression analyses were implemented to determine a set of best predictors of elite male climbers’ ability. Shoulder width, body fat content, upper-body strength and endurance for females, showed the most correlation with the climbing ability (range: r = 0.46–0.7, p ≤ 0.05), while among the male samples, these correlations with the climbing ability were mostly between WHR, absolute and relative to body mass handgrip strength, SEBT performance and the left-hand digit ratio. The results of stepwise multiple regression revealed that the SEBT performance in the posterior direction of right foot stance and Upper Extremity Girth Index are able to explain 62% of the variance of climbing ability. It is likely that decreasing the fat mass has no direct impact on the climbers’ performance. Also, SEBT performance is able to predict 35% of climbing performance. Hence, it seems balance exercises could be effective in improvement of climbing performance. 

Cognitive Impairment and Effects on Upper Body Strength of Adults with Dementia

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon D. Rogers ◽  
Shannon E. Jarrott
Keyword(s):  
Functional Disability ◽  
Handgrip Strength ◽  
Strength Loss ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Muscle Strengthening ◽  
Physical Activity Interventions ◽  
Body Strength ◽  
Exploratory Investigation ◽  
Upper Body Strength

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the association between cognitive ability and upper body muscle strength. Two sources of existing data were pooled for this examination. Thirty-eight older participants diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia (25 women, 13 men; age = 83.2 ± 5.6 years, MMSE score = 16.75 ± 7.04, M ± SD) underwent an assessment of grip strength via handheld dynamometry. Multiple-regression analysis indicated that cognitive status was a significant predictor of strength and, when combined in a model with age and sex, explained 57% of the between-individuals variance in handgrip strength. The findings from this exploratory investigation suggest that dementia is associated with strength loss, a key contributor to functional disability; this further justifies efforts to investigate mechanisms responsible for this decay and to preserve muscle integrity by integrating physical activity interventions, notably, muscle strengthening, into the lifestyle of adults with dementia.

scholarly journals Cues of upper body strength account for most of the variance in men's bodily attractiveness

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1869) ◽  
pp. 20171819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Sell ◽  
Aaron W. Lukazsweski ◽  
Michael Townsley
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Genetic Quality ◽  
Physical Strength ◽  
Fighting Ability ◽  
Resource Holding Power ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
Body Strength ◽  
Upper Body Strength ◽  
Reproductive Consequences

Evolution equips sexually reproducing species with mate choice mechanisms that function to evaluate the reproductive consequences of mating with different individuals. Indeed, evolutionary psychologists have shown that women's mate choice mechanisms track many cues of men's genetic quality and ability to invest resources in the woman and her offspring. One variable that predicted both a man's genetic quality and his ability to invest is the man's formidability (i.e. fighting ability or resource holding power/potential). Modern women, therefore, should have mate choice mechanisms that respond to ancestral cues of a man's fighting ability. One crucial component of a man's ability to fight is his upper body strength. Here, we test how important physical strength is to men's bodily attractiveness. Three sets of photographs of men's bodies were shown to raters who estimated either their physical strength or their attractiveness. Estimates of physical strength determined over 70% of men's bodily attractiveness. Additional analyses showed that tallness and leanness were also favoured, and, along with estimates of physical strength, accounted for 80% of men's bodily attractiveness. Contrary to popular theories of men's physical attractiveness, there was no evidence of a nonlinear effect; the strongest men were the most attractive in all samples.

scholarly journals Upper body strength endurance evaluation: A comparison between the handgrip strength and three body weight tests

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Ewan Thomas ◽  
Vincenzo Gennaro ◽  
Giuseppe Battaglia ◽  
Marianna Bellafiore ◽  
Angelo Iovane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grip Strength ◽  
Perceived Exertion ◽  
Handgrip Strength ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Body Strength ◽  
Upper Body Strength ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Three Body ◽  
Test Repetition

BACKGROUND: The hand-grip strength test has been widely adopted to evaluate upper limb strength. Other field based tests as push-ups and pull-ups are commonly used for the same purpose. It is however unclear if these may be used interchangeably for upper body strength evaluation. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate strength endurance of the upper body and understand which test could be the most appropriate for upper body evaluation. METHODS: Thirty-eight healthy young male participants were tested with three tests comprised of: 1) push-ups (PS), 2) pull-ups (PL) and 3) parallel dips (PD) performed to exhaustion. Grip strength (GS), total number of repetitions, time-to-complete the test, repetition cadence and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were also retrieved for investigation. RESULTS: Repetitions, time-to-complete the test and repetition cadence significantly differed across the three tests (p< 0.001). No difference in the RPE was present. No correlation was present between GS and the other tests. No correlation was present between RPE and performance values and time-to-complete the tests. BMI was positively correlated to RPE in all tests. All tests strongly correlate to each other (PS vs. PL r= 0.55; PS vs. PD r= 0.64; PL vs. PD r= 0.70) and to time-to-complete the test (PS r= 0.79; PL r= 0.69; PD r= 0.66). Only the results of the PD correlate to their respective repetition cadence (r= 0.66). CONCLUSIONS: GS is not suitable to evaluate strength endurance. PS, PL and PD are all suitable to evaluate strength endurance. However, PD may be preferred to evaluate the upper body, if velocity also needs to be taken into account.

scholarly journals Disgust, Anger, and Aggression: Further Tests of the Equivalence of Moral Emotions

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Tybur ◽  
Catherine Molho ◽  
Begum Cakmak ◽  
Terence Dores Cruz ◽  
Gaurav Deep Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Attractiveness ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Moral Emotions ◽  
The Self ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Indirect Aggression ◽  
Physical Strength ◽  
Body Strength ◽  
Upper Body Strength

People often report disgust toward moral violations. Some perspectives posit that this disgust is indistinct from anger. Here, we replicate and extend recent work suggesting that disgust and anger toward moral violations are in fact distinct in terms of the situations in which they are activated and their correspondence with aggressive sentiments. We tested three hypotheses concerning emotional responses to moral violations: (1) disgust is associated with lower-cost, indirectly aggressive motives (e.g., gossip and social exclusion), whereas anger is associated with higher-cost, directly aggressive motives (e.g., physical violence); (2) disgust is higher toward violations affecting others than it is toward violations affecting the self, and anger is higher toward violations affecting the self than it is toward violations affecting others; and (3) abilities to inflict costs on or withhold benefits from others (measured via physical strength and physical attractiveness, respectively) relate to anger, but not to disgust. These hypotheses were tested in a within-subjects study in which 233 participants came to the lab twice and reported their emotional responses and aggressive sentiments toward self-targeting and other-targeting moral violations. Participants’ upper body strength and physical attractiveness were also measured with a dynamometer and photograph ratings, respectively. The first two hypotheses were supported – disgust (but not anger) was related to indirect aggression whereas anger (but not disgust) was related to direct aggression, and disgust was higher toward other-targeting violations whereas anger was higher toward self-targeting violations. However, physical strength and physical attractiveness were unrelated to anger or disgust or to endorsements of direct or indirect aggression.

scholarly journals Upper-body Strength and Conflict Resolution in Human Males

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Nguyen ◽  
Michael Bang Petersen ◽  
Julia Nafziger ◽  
Alexander K. Koch
Keyword(s):  
Human Mind ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Conflict Behavior ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Physical Strength ◽  
War Of Attrition ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
Body Strength ◽  
Upper Body Strength ◽  
Do So

Among non-human animals, a key strategy to resolve conflicts without fighting relies on assessing relative fighting ability on the basis of physical cues such as size and strength. Recent studies suggest that the human mind too contains mechanisms for spontaneously coordinating conflict behavior on the basis of difference in physical strength, even if strength is not rationally relevant to the conflict. We provide the first direct, experimental test of the existence of such mechanisms. We do so by applying a non-physical, anonymous, economic game - the war-of-attrition - in which male contestants compete by means of perseverance to win a monetary prize. While three initial studies provided some support for the prediction, the final well-powered and pre-registered study failed to support the prediction. We interpret our findings as suggestive evidence that in conflict situations the human mind does not attribute relevance to physical factors that are irrelevant for the conflict.

scholarly journals Tybur et al. Disgust Anger Aggression

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Tybur ◽  
Catherine Molho ◽  
Terence Daniel Dores Cruz ◽  
Begum Cakmak ◽  
Gaurav Deep Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Attractiveness ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
The Self ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Indirect Aggression ◽  
Physical Strength ◽  
Body Strength ◽  
Upper Body Strength ◽  
Within Subjects

People often report disgust toward moral violations. Some perspectives posit that this disgust is indistinct from anger. Here, we test an alternative perspective: that disgust corresponds with condemnation strategies that are less costly – but also less effective at deterrence – than those corresponding with anger. We tested three hypotheses concerning emotional responses to moral violations: (1) disgust is associated with lower-cost, indirectly aggressive motives (e.g., gossip and social exclusion), whereas anger is associated with higher-cost, directly aggressive motives (e.g., physical violence); (2) disgust is higher toward violations affecting others than it is toward violations affecting the self, and anger is higher toward violations affecting the self than it is toward violations affecting others; and (3) abilities to inflict costs on or withhold benefits from others (measured via physical strength and physical attractiveness, respectively) relate to anger, but not to disgust. These hypotheses were tested in a within-subjects study in which 233 participants came to the lab twice and reported their emotional responses and aggressive sentiments toward self-targeting and other-targeting moral violations. Participants’ upper body strength and physical attractiveness were also measured with a dynamometer and photograph ratings, respectively. The first two hypotheses were supported – disgust (but not anger) was related to indirect aggression whereas anger (but not disgust) was related to direct aggression, and disgust was higher toward other-targeting violations whereas anger was higher toward self-targeting violations. However, physical strength and physical attractiveness were unrelated to anger or disgust or to endorsements of direct or indirect aggression.

scholarly journals Adaptations in humans for assessing physical strength from the voice

2010 ◽  
Vol 277 (1699) ◽  
pp. 3509-3518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Sell ◽  
Gregory A. Bryant ◽  
Leda Cosmides ◽  
John Tooby ◽  
Daniel Sznycer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Physical Strength ◽  
Fighting Ability ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Body Strength ◽  
Upper Body Strength ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
The Voice

Recent research has shown that humans, like many other animals, have a specialization for assessing fighting ability from visual cues. Because it is probable that the voice contains cues of strength and formidability that are not available visually, we predicted that selection has also equipped humans with the ability to estimate physical strength from the voice. We found that subjects accurately assessed upper-body strength in voices taken from eight samples across four distinct populations and language groups: the Tsimane of Bolivia, Andean herder-horticulturalists and United States and Romanian college students. Regardless of whether raters were told to assess height, weight, strength or fighting ability, they produced similar ratings that tracked upper-body strength independent of height and weight. Male voices were more accurately assessed than female voices, which is consistent with ethnographic data showing a greater tendency among males to engage in violent aggression. Raters extracted information about strength from the voice that was not supplied from visual cues, and were accurate with both familiar and unfamiliar languages. These results provide, to our knowledge, the first direct evidence that both men and women can accurately assess men's physical strength from the voice, and suggest that estimates of strength are used to assess fighting ability.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document