<p>Voice pitch is an easily observed trait that conveys socially relevant information, suggesting that it should influence social decision-making. However, the traits indicated by a low vs. high voice differ in desirability depending on the social situation, suggesting that voice pitch preferences should be situation-specific. We manipulated voices and conducted a 2 (voice pitch) × 3 (social situation) × 2 (sex) experiment to test whether higher-pitched or lower-pitched voices were preferred in same-sex friend choice, leader choice, and apology acceptance decisions (MTurk sample, <i>N</i> = 1559). Participants also rated voice stimuli on trustworthiness, physical attractiveness, physical dominance, and ancestral productivity, allowing us to test which trait perceptions mediate the effect of voice pitch. We found that participants preferred higher voices when considering apologies, lower voices when choosing a leader, and women—but not men—preferred higher voices when choosing a friend. These choices were mediated by perceptions of physical dominance and ancestral productivity, which changed in desirability across sex and social situation. We discuss implications for research on voice pitch preferences and for the development of communicative technologies.</p>