Why hearing your own voice makes you cringe

What causes most people to cringe when they hear the sound of their own voice?

A New York Magazine column posted earlier this month explains there are a number of physiological and psychological reasons for the disconnect.

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For all sounds, waves enter the ear canals, making the ear drums vibrate, and eventually the cochlea delivers the message to the brain where it is processed.

However, according to a university professor, another process occurs with one's own voice. Speaking creates a second vibration that travels along that conduit as well, resulting in the interpretation of additional auditory information and a different perception of the sound.

A Washington Post story notes that the body in general is better at carrying low, rich tones than the air is, so without the benefit of those tone-lowering buffers, the voice can sound higher or more tinny.

Psychologically, the reflection of one's voice could also be a reflection of self esteem, as one science writer has argued, or the odd experience of taking an outsider's view of ourselves.