Abstract:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This study examines how individual psychosocial factors shape phonetic characteristics associated with sexual orientation. Sociolinguistic explanations have traditionally focused on group-based models, suggesting that speakers from lower-prestige social groups, such as gay men, may adopt distinctive speech features to resist or accommodate dominant norms. However, these models rely on binary identity categories and do not fully explain cross-cultural variation. For example, research conducted in Mainland China (Geng & Gu, 2022) proposed the concealment hypothesis, which argues that speakers may suppress stereotypically gay-sounding features in less accepting sociocultural contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The current study tests whether phonetic variation is better explained by individual-level factors, focusing on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and self-acceptance as predictors of speech. Conducted in Taiwan, a society generally more accepting of sexual minorities, it also evaluates the cultural specificity of the concealment hypothesis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Forty male native speakers of Taiwanese Mandarin were recruited, including 20 self-identified gay men and 20 heterosexual men. Participants completed a reading-aloud task, and the resulting speech samples were analyzed for five acoustic variables: vowel space area (VSA), sibilant duration, sibilant spectral skewness, sibilant center of gravity (COG), and fundamental frequency (F0). Participants completed questionnaires measuring ACEs and self-acceptance beliefs. Height and weight were recorded to test the biosocial hypothesis that body size influences vocal characteristics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The findings from linear mixed-effects models do not support the concealment hypothesis. Instead, they provide support for continuous, individual-level factors such as self-acceptance, as well as partial support for the biosocial hypothesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, sexual orientation alone did not significantly predict either F0 or vowel space area in this sample. This contrasts with findings from the Mainland China study, suggesting that speakers in more accepting sociocultural contexts may not suppress phonetic features linked to sexual orientation. However, gay participants did show distinct sibilant articulation patterns, with significantly higher COG and more negative spectral skewness. These features reflect more frontal articulation, similar to patterns previously reported in Western sociophonetic studies of gay speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second, self-acceptance emerged as a significant predictor of phonetic variation. Participants with higher levels of self-acceptance, regardless of sexual orientation, tended to have higher pitch and more expanded VSA. These features, often associated with gay speech, may instead reflect psychological integration and comfort with one\u2019s identity. While ACE scores did not show a direct effect on phonetic variables, they may influence speech indirectly through self-acceptance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Third, the results provided partial support for the biosocial hypothesis. Body weight did not significantly affect speech, but height showed a significant negative relationship with vowel space area. Taller participants produced smaller vowel spaces, contradicting earlier assumptions that anatomical size directly determines articulatory range. This finding further demonstrates the influence of social and psychological factors on speech, even for features considered biologically constrained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall, the findings suggest that phonetic features associated with sexual orientation are not fixed group markers but reflect interactions between sociocultural context and individual psychological factors, particularly self-acceptance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geng, P., & Gu, W. (2022). Acoustic and perceptual characteristics of Mandarin speech in gay and heterosexual male speakers. Language and Speech, 65(4), 1096-1109.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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