Being in power can change the way you speak, says study

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WASHINGTON: Being in a position of power can fundamentally change the way you speak, altering basic acoustic properties of your voice, a new study has found. 

"Our findings suggest that whether it's parents attempting to assert authority over unruly children or negotiations between heads of states, the sound of voices involved may profoundly determine the outcome of those interactions," said psychological scientist Sei Jin Ko of San Diego State University. 

The researchers were inspired by former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher to investigate the relationship between acoustic cues and power. "It was quite well known that Thatcher had gone through extensive voice coaching to exude a more powerful persona," said Ko. 

In the first experiment, researchers recorded 161 college students reading a passage aloud. The participants were then randomly assigned them to play a specific role in an ensuing negotiation exercise. 

The researchers found that the voices of students assigned to high-power roles tended to go up in pitch, become more monotone, and become more variable in loudness than the voices of students assigned low-power roles. In second experiment, a separate group of college students were able to pick up on these power-related vocal cues to determine who did and did not have power.