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Complaining about things to win “Likes” and “Favs” is the crux of today’s online media companies. Recently, a website well-known for its list articles was parsing on things that “media people like.” The first item on the list was: “complaining about how they hate listening to the sound of their own voices when transcribing.” And I totally agree, but also feel that such a complaint is rooted in the great pleasure that is being a whiny little shit.
A study from Albright College has found that people actually prefer the sound of their own voices. Imagine that! In an unwitting assessment of their own voices versus other people’s voices, 80 men and women were attracted to their own voices more than others.’ Science Daily explains:
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Researchers included three different samples of participants’ own voice recordings in the group. Researchers believe that most participants did not recognize or realize their own voices were included, yet rated their own voices as sounding more attractive than how other raters judged their voices. Participants also rated their own voices more favorably than they had rated the voices of other people.
“People generally tend to have an enhanced sense about themselves,” said Susan Hughes, an author on the study, explaining the latent narcissistic qualities of people that support and condition confidence and self-esteem. In the past, stress and depression have been linked to weakening our immune systems and making us susceptible to disease. It’s both surprising and totally bleak to me, that while we “hate the sound” of our recorded voices (or so we sayeth), that we still prefer it above others. And what does this say about people’s assessment of their own farts?
“Given this age of heightened narcissism,” Hughes added, “this study provides further evidence that individuals seem to inflate their opinions of themselves by thinking the sound of their own voices is more attractive.”
Listening to yourself talk, while you talk, definitely feels different than listening to a recording of yourself asking someone questions. I definitely hate the sound of my own voice when I listen back to my interviews. At least I think I do. “That’s how I fucking sound?!” my inner voice asks.
But hey, perhaps the transcribing-myself complaints are founded in having no threshold for sounding like shit, or inquisitive, and dweebish. Maybe we just can’t stand to hear the same question (we’re certain about it, and have already copied it down) while struggling to pick apart that interviewee’s damn accent!
