Male drivers take more risks while driving with a ‘sexy sounding’ sat nav, study finds

Sexy-sounding sat navs make men take more risks when driving, a new study has found.

Women with higher-pitched voices – which men find attractive and are associated with youth, good looks and fertility – can turn men into risk-takers, say researchers, whose findings were published in the Personality and Individual Differences journal.

When given driving instructions by such voices, men were much more likely to run through amber traffic lights. Hearing celebrity voices also had an effect.

‘While innovations like celebrity voice packs in car navigation systems are popular among users, their influence on safety, particularly whether they prompt risky behaviours among male drivers due to the allure of seductive female voices, remains questionable,’ said the researchers from Shanghai’s Fudan University.

‘In our study, men exposed to high-pitched voices engaged more in risky behaviours such as running amber lights while driving.

‘This suggests that male risk-taking behaviours influenced by female voices can be perilous when driving, which raises questions about the necessity of voice packs featuring various celebrities in navigation products.

‘It is advisable to reduce the femininity of voices in car voice interaction designs to enhance driving safety.’

Men were more likely to run an amber light when receiving instructions from a higher-pitched voice, research has shown

The study, which is the first to investigate links between women’s voices and risk-taking in men, involved two experiments. In the first, men in a driving simulator were given instructions by low or high-pitched female voices.

As they approached a junction, the traffic light would change to amber, giving the driver the option of going through or stopping.

The results showed that when receiving instructions from the higher-pitched voice, the men were around 40 per cent more likely to run the amber light as they showcased their qualities, including risk-taking, said the researchers.

In a second experiment, two groups of men crossed a plank bridge in a virtual-reality setting.

Those given instructions by a high-pitched female voice crossed faster than those instructed by a low-pitched voice, as did those who were encouraged to take more risks.