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Which of these guys would you guess is stronger? Him? “One of us is in deep trouble.” Or him? “I’m having a party, and you’re invited!” If you chose Arnold over Pee Wee, it’s not just because you’re an astute¹ student of popular culture. A new study shows that people are able to accurately² judge a man’s strength from his voice. The work appears in the Proceedings³ of the Royal Society.

The meek⁴ may inherit the Earth. But the powerful tend to prevail in physical conflicts. So it’s not surprising that humans have evolved the ability to accurately size up their potential opponents. Such assessments⁵ usually spring from visual inspection⁶. But what if it’s dark out, or your rivals are at a distance or on the phone? Will auditory information suffice?

Scientists asked undergraduates to listen to recordings⁷ of men from a variety of cultures: from Romanian college students to Argentinian goat herders. And they found that subjects could accurately predict upper body strength based on voice alone. Even when that voice was from an unfamiliar⁸ culture.

So if you’re gonna pick a fight sight unseen, listen first. Just to make sure the other guy doesn’t sound like this. “You better wipe that smile off your face or I’ll do it for you.”

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.