Greater arousal in response to expansive female pubic hair is linked to more positive reactions to female sterility among heterosexual men

Because testosterone increases body hair growth and infertility in women, greater pubic hair expanse could function as a visual heuristic of female infertility for men. Heterosexual male Canadian undergraduate students (N = 63) completed a measure of sociosexuality, rated their reactions to their own/a female partner’s hypothetical sterility, and reported their arousal in response to a range of female pubic hair expanses (from completely bare to extending beyond the pubic mound). As hypothesized, although the absence of pubic hair was rated as most arousing overall (especially among higher sociosexuality scorers), men’s greater comfort with a female partner’s sterility predicted greater arousal in response to the most expansive female pubic hair patterns. Thus, along with breast size and waist-to-hip ratio, pubic hair expanse may be a secondary sex characteristic that can function as a visual heuristic of female (in)fertility among heterosexual men.