A pilot study of gender of voice and gender of voice hearer in psychotic voice hearers.

The experience of auditory hallucinations has been described as a form of 'inner relationship'. Recent research has focused on the common dominant/subordinate form that voice and voice hearer can share, with voices being experienced as dominant, powerful and shaming. However, the way men shame and derogate men, and women shame and derogate women may differ in everyday social contexts. This difference may also be important in the relationship of voice hearers to their voices. This study used a semi-structured interview to explore male voices heard by men and by women and female voices heard by men and women. For both men and women, male voices commonly tended to be dominant. In line with previous work on shame, themes of sexual and non-sexual shaming were common. Voices could also issue warnings and commands. The general experience of a dominant voice was hostile but participants noted that the degree of hostility changed with the degree of stress in other aspects of their lives. Further work on derogations and threats of dominant voices may reveal further subtle distinctions between voice and voice hearer in regard to gender.