Gender identity impacts the perception of vocal congruence

This study investigated vocal congruence, i.e., the alignment between self-voice perception and the sense of identity, across cisgender and transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) participants (N = 44) in three conditions: Silent Reading, Reading Aloud, and Listening to recorded speech. Results revealed that TGNC participants reported significantly lower vocal congruence than cisgender participants across all experimental conditions, with the starkest difference in conditions where auditory feedback was present. This experience of incongruence appears to be modulated by interoceptive sensibility and alexithymia, with TGNC individuals reporting lower interoceptive trust and higher levels of alexithymia. Emotional awareness was positively linked to inner-voice congruence in the TGNC group. Additionally, aspects related to gender-minority stress predicted lower congruence. These findings highlight the complex interplay between gender identity, interoception, emotion regulation strategies, and voice perception.