研究：声音低沉的CEO更成功 挣得更多

美国杜克大学福夸商学院和加州大学圣地亚哥分校的研究人员发现，声音低沉的首席执行官通常都比高嗓门的同僚挣得多，而且为公司服务的年限也更长。研究人员选定了792位上市公司CEO的声音样本并对其声调进行分析，然后将各自的声调水平数据与其资产、薪资以及服务年限等数据进行交叉对比。另外，CEO们的年龄、教育背景以及彰显男性特征的面部和声音特征也被列为参考指标。分析结果显示，声调与成功程度有明显的关联，声调每降低22.1赫兹，其掌管的公司规模便增加4.4亿美元，其收入也相应增加。研究人员还发现，声音低沉的男性CEO在公司的服务时间也更长。

We will never know to what degree Margaret Thatcher’s efforts to lower the pitch of her voice influenced her electoral success, but it appears she was on to something.

What worked for the late female former prime minister in politics works for men in business, scientists have found, as those with the deepest voices earn more on average than their higher-pitched colleagues.

The findings come from a study by academics at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and the University of California at San Diego in the US, who identified speech samples for 792 CEOs from the Standard and Poor's 500 stock index and analyzed the voices to determine vocal pitch.

The pitch levels were then cross-referenced with data on the assets managed by the chief executive, the amount he was paid and how long he had worked for the company.

Factors such as age, education and other facial and vocal characteristics that suggest masculinity were also taken into account.

The scientists found a clear correlation between voice pitch and success, with those with lower voices managing larger companies and earning more.

A decrease in voice pitch of 22.1Hz correlated with an increase in company size of $440 million which was accompanied by higher pay of $187,000 a year.

The researchers also found that male chief executives with lower voices were retained longer by the companies that employed them.

Professor Mohan Venkatachalam, one of the Fuqua researchers, said: "These findings suggest that the effects of a deep voice are salient even for the upper echelons of management in corporate America."

But his colleague Professor Bill Mayew added: "While a deep voice appears to correlate with various measures of labor market success, we still have little understanding of the precise mechanism by which a deep voice adds value."

Previous research by Duke University has found that voters of both sexes prefer candidates with deeper voices.