David Puts

Professor of Anthropology

David Puts

Research Summary

Understanding both the endocrine mechanisms underlying human sexual differentiation and the evolution of these mechanisms, particularly the influence of sexual selection.

Huck Affiliations

Most Recent Publications

A meta-analysis of sex differences in neonatal rodent ultrasonic vocalizations and the implication for the preclinical maternal immune activation model

Alison M. Randell, Stephanie Salia, Lucas F. Fowler, Toe Aung, David A. Puts, Ashlyn Swift-Gallant, 2025, Biology of Sex Differences

Masculine voice is associated with better mucosal immune defense in adolescent and adult males

Carolyn R. Hodges-Simeon, Graham Albert, Timothy McHale, Steven J.C. Gaulin, Michael Gurven, Nick Landry, Jessica K. Hlay, Nicole Merullo, David A. Puts, Steven A. Arnocky, 2024, Evolution and Human Behavior

Effects of Voice Pitch on Social Perceptions Vary With Relational Mobility and Homicide Rate

Toe Aung, Alexander K. Hill, Jessica K. Hlay, Catherine Hess, Michael Hess, Janie Johnson, Leslie Doll, Sara M. Carlson, Caroline Magdinec, Isaac G-Santoyo, Robert S. Walker, Drew Bailey, Steven Arnocky, Shanmukh Kamble, Tom Vardy, Thanos Kyritsis, Quentin Atkinson, Benedict Jones, Jessica Burns, Jeremy Koster, Gonzalo Palomo-Vélez, Joshua M. Tybur, José Muñoz-Reyes, Bryan K.C. Choy, Norman P. Li, Verena Klar, Carlota Batres, Patricia Bascheck, Christoph Schild, Lars Penke, Farid Pazhoohi, Karen Kemirembe, Jaroslava Varella Valentova, Marco Antonio Correa Varella, Caio Santos Alves da Silva, Martha Borras-Guevara, Carolyn Hodges-Simeon, Moritz Ernst, Collin Garr, Bin Bin Chen, David Puts, 2024, Psychological Science on p. 250-262

Vocal pitch

S Karthikeyan, David Puts, 2024, on p. 1-11

Articulatory effects on perceptions of men’s status and attractiveness

Sethu Karthikeyan, David A. Puts, Toe Aung, Jennifer K. Link, Kevin Rosenfield, Alexander Mackiel, Allisen Casey, Kaelyn Marks, Michele Cristo, Jenny Patel, Aliza Santos, Glenn Geher, 2023, Scientific Reports

Group size and mating system predict sex differences in vocal fundamental frequency in anthropoid primates

Toe Aung, Alexander K. Hill, Dana Pfefferle, Edward McLester, James Fuller, Jenna M. Lawrence, Ivan Garcia-Nisa, Rachel L. Kendal, Megan Petersdorf, James P. Higham, Gérard Galat, Adriano R. Lameira, Coren L. Apicella, Claudia Barelli, Mary E. Glenn, Gabriel Ramos-Fernandez, David A. Puts, 2023, Nature Communications

Effects of facial skin pigmentation on social judgments in a Mexican population

Jaaziel Martínez-Ramírez, David Puts, Javier Nieto, Isaac G-Santoyo, 2023, PLoS One

Voice cues: Intersexual selection

Katarzyna Pisanski, David Puts, 2023, on p. 1-8

Contest Competition for Mates and the Evolution of Human Males

David Puts, David Carrier, Alan R. Rogers, 2023, on p. 317-377

Organizational Effects of Gonadal Hormones on Human Sexual Orientation

Ashlyn Swift-Gallant, Khytam Dawood, Toe Aung, D Puts, Kevin Rosenfield, Khytam Dawood, David Puts, 2023, Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology on p. 344-370

Most-Cited Papers

How valid are assessments of conception probability in ovulatory cycle research? Evaluations, recommendations, and theoretical implications

Steven W. Gangestad, Martie G. Haselton, Lisa L.M. Welling, Kelly Gildersleeve, Elizabeth G. Pillsworth, Robert P. Burriss, Christina M. Larson, David A. Puts, 2016, Evolution and Human Behavior on p. 85-96

Human sexual selection

David Andrew Puts, 2016, Current Opinion in Psychology on p. 28-32

Sexual selection on male vocal fundamental frequency in humans and other anthropoids

David A. Puts, Alexander K. Hill, Drew H. Bailey, Robert S. Walker, Drew Rendall, John R. Wheatley, Lisa L.M. Welling, Khytam Dawood, Rodrigo Cárdenas, Robert P. Burriss, Nina G. Jablonski, Mark D. Shriver, Daniel Weiss, Adriano R. Lameira, Coren L. Apicella, Michael J. Owren, Claudia Barelli, Mary E. Glenn, Gabriel Ramos-Fernandez, 2016, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences on p. 20152830

The relative importance of intra- and intersexual selection on human male sexually dimorphic traits

Tobias L. Kordsmeyer, John Hunt, David A. Puts, Julia Ostner, Lars Penke, 2018, Evolution and Human Behavior on p. 424-436

Voice pitch: a window into the communication of social power

Toe Aung, David Puts, 2020, Current Opinion in Psychology on p. 154-161

Endocrinology of human female sexuality, mating, and reproductive behavior

Natalie V. Motta-Mena, David A. Puts, 2017, Hormones and Behavior on p. 19-35

Attractiveness is multimodal: Beauty is also in the nose and ear of the beholder

Agata Groyecka, Katarzyna Pisanski, Agnieszka Sorokowska, Jan Havlícek, Maciej Karwowski, David Puts, S. Craig Roberts, Piotr Sorokowski, 2017, Frontiers in Psychology

Do women's preferences for masculine voices shift across the ovulatory cycle?

Julia Jünger, Natalie V. Motta-Mena, Rodrigo Cardenas, Drew Bailey, Kevin A. Rosenfield, Christoph Schild, Lars Penke, David A. Puts, 2018, Hormones and Behavior on p. 122-134

Are there vocal cues to human developmental stability? Relationships between facial fluctuating asymmetry and voice attractiveness

Alexander K. Hill, Rodrigo A. Cárdenas, John R. Wheatley, Lisa L.M. Welling, Robert P. Burriss, Peter Claes, Coren L. Apicella, Michael A. McDaniel, Anthony C. Little, Mark D. Shriver, David A. Puts, 2017, Evolution and Human Behavior on p. 249-258

Fulfilling desire: Evidence for negative feedback between men's testosterone, sociosexual psychology, and sexual partner number

David A. Puts, Lauramarie E. Pope, Alexander K. Hill, Rodrigo A. Cárdenas, Lisa L.M. Welling, John R. Wheatley, S. Marc Breedlove, 2015, Hormones and Behavior on p. 14-21