Abstract
Empirical attention to “hooking up” has expanded over time, yet limited attention has been devoted to understanding the hookup experiences of emerging adults (ages 18–25) who have not attended college and how they may differ from those who have attended college. Guided by life course and scripting theories, we used a storytelling methodology to content analyze the hookup stories of a large sample of college-attending and non-college emerging adults (N = 407). We also compared stories based on gender, as several studies report gender differences but have yet to consider how hookup scripts may differ between men and women. Overall, we found that college-attending and non-college emerging adults reported using similar hookup scripts in their most recent hookup experience, as did emerging adult men and women. However, we found that greater proportions of non-college emerging adults reported sexual touch, meeting in an “other location,” and positive reactions to their most recent hookup. Greater proportions of college-attending emerging adults reported their hookup occurred in a house/apartment. In terms of gender, greater proportions of women reported “having sex” and deep kissing, hooking up with an acquaintance, partner characteristics as a reason to hookup, and negative reactions to their most recent hookup. Greater proportions of men reported hooking up with a stranger, meeting at a bar/club, hooking up at a party, and hooking up at an “other location.” Implications for future research and sexual health education and intervention are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen, K. R., Husser, E. K., Stone, D. J., & Jordal, C. E. (2008). Agency and error in young adults’ stories of sexual decision making. Family Relations, 57, 517–529. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2008.00519.x.
Allison, R., & Risman, B. J. (2013). A double standard for “hooking up”: How far have we come toward gender equality? Social Science Research, 42, 1191–1206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2013.04.006.
Armstrong, H. L., & Reissing, E. D. (2015). Women’s motivations to have sex in casual and committed relationships with male and female partners. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44, 921–934. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0462-4.
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066X.55.5.469.
Arnett, J. J. (2006). Emerging adulthood: Understanding the new way of coming of age. In J. J. Arnett & J. L. Tanner (Eds.), Emerging adults in America: Coming of age in the 21st century (pp. 3–19). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Arnett, J. J. (2015). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the early twenties (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Aubrey, J. S., & Smith, S. E. (2013). Development and validation of the endorsement of the hookup culture index. Journal of Sex Research, 50, 435–438. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2011.637246.
Bailey, J. A., Fleming, C. B., Henson, J. N., Catalano, R. F., & Haggerty, K. P. (2008). Sexual risk behavior 6 months post-high school: Associations with college attendance, living with parents, and prior risk behavior. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42, 573–579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.11.138.
Bengston, V. L., & Allen, K. R. (1993). The life course perspective applied to families over time. In P. G. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, & S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 469–498). New York, NY: Plenum Press.
Bogle, K. A. (2007). The shift from dating to hooking up in college: What scholars have missed. Sociology Compass, 1(2), 775–788. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00031.x.
Bogle, K. A. (2008). Hooking up: Sex, dating, and relationships on campus. New York, NY: New York University Press.
Burr, W. R., Leigh, G. K., Day, R. D., & Constantine, J. (1979). Symbolic interaction and the family. In W. R. Burr, R. Hill, F. I. Nye, & I. L. Reiss (Eds.), Contemporary theories about the family (Vol. 2, pp. 42–111)., Free Press NY: New York.
Claxton, S. E., & van Dulmen, M. H. M. (2013). Casual sexual relationships and experiences in emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 1, 138–150. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813487181.
Connell, R. W. (1987). Gender and power: Society, the person, and sexual politics. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Cote, J. E. (2014). The dangerous myth of emerging adulthood: An evidence-based critique of a flawed developmental theory. Applied Developmental Science, 18, 177–188. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2014.954451.
Downing-Matibag, T. M., & Geisinger, B. (2009). Hooking up and sexual risk taking among college students: A health belief model perspective. Qualitative Health Research, 19, 1196–1209. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732309344206.
Epstein, M., Calzo, J. P., Smiler, A. P., & Ward, L. M. (2009). “Anything from making out to having sex”: Men’s negotiation of hooking up and friends with benefits scripts. Journal of Sex Research, 46, 414–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490902775801.
Eshbaugh, E. M., & Gute, G. (2008). Hookups and sexual regret among college women. Journal of Social Psychology, 148, 77–90. https://doi.org/10.3200/SOCP.148.1.77-90.
Fielder, R. L., & Carey, M. P. (2010). Prevalence and characteristics of sexual hookups among first-semester female college students. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 36, 346–359. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2010.488118.
Fisher, M. L., Worth, K., Garcia, J. R., & Meredith, T. (2012). Feelings of regret following uncommitted sexual encounters in Canadian university students. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 14, 45–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2011.619579.
Flack, W. F., Daubman, K. A., Caron, M. L., Asadorian, J. A., D’Aureli, N. R., Gigliotti, S. N., & Stine, E. R. (2007). Risk factors and consequences of unwanted sex among university students: Hooking up, alcohol, and stress response. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 22, 139–157. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260506295354.
Furman, W., & Shaffer, L. (2011). Romantic partners, friends, friends with benefits, and casual acquaintances as sexual partners. Journal of Sex Research, 48, 554–564. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2010.535623.
Garcia, J. R., Reiber, C., Massey, S. G., & Merriwether, A. M. (2012). Sexual hookup culture: A review. Review of General Psychology, 16, 161–176. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027911.
Goldstein, J., & Kenney, C. (2001). Marriage delayed or marriage forgone? New cohort forecasts of first marriage for US women. American Sociological Review, 1, 506–519. https://doi.org/10.2307/3088920.
Grello, C. M., Welsh, D. P., & Harper, M. S. (2006). No strings attached: The nature of casual sex in college students. Journal of Sex Research, 43, 255–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490609552324.
Hendry, L. B., & Kloep, M. (2010). How universal is emerging adulthood? An empirical example. Journal of Youth Studies, 13, 169–179. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676260903295067.
Holman, A., & Sillars, A. (2012). Talk about “hooking up”: The influence of college student social networks on nonrelationship sex. Health Communication, 27, 205–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2011.575540.
Hsieh, H., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15, 1277–1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687.
Ipeirotis, P. (2010). Demographics of mechanical turk. Center for Digital Economy Research Working Papers, 10. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2451/29585.
Johnson, M. D. (2013). Parent-child relationship quality directly influences hooking up behavior reported in young adulthood through alcohol use in adolescence. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42, 1463–1472. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-013-0098-9.
Kloep, M., & Hendry, L. B. (2011). A systematic approach to the transitions to adulthood. In J. J. Arnett, M. Kloep, L. B. Hendry, & J. L. Tanner (Eds.), Debating emerging adulthood: Stage or process? (pp. 53–76). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Krippendorff, K. (2013). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kuperberg, A., & Padgett, J. E. (2015). Dating and hooking up in college: Meeting contexts, sex, and variations by gender, partner’s gender, and class standing. Journal of Sex Research, 52, 517–531. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2014.901284.
Labov, W., & Waletzky, J. (1997). Narrative analysis: Oral versions of personal experience. Journal of Narrative & Life History, 7, 3–38. https://doi.org/10.1075/jnlh.7.02nar.
Lewis, M. A., Atkins, D. C., Blayney, J. A., Dent, D. V., & Kaysen, D. L. (2013). What is hooking up? Examining definitions of hooking up in relation to behavior and normative perception. Journal of Sex Research, 50, 757–766. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2012.706333.
Lewis, M. A., Granato, H., Blayney, J. A., Lostutter, T. W., & Kilmer, J. R. (2012). Predictors of hooking up sexual behaviors and emotional reactions among U.S. college students. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 1219–1229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9817-2.
Littleton, H., Tabernik, H., Canales, E. J., & Backstrom, T. (2009). Risky situation or harmless fun? A qualitative examination of college women’s bad hook-up and rape scripts. Sex Roles, 60, 793–804. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9586-8.
Lyons, H. A., Manning, W. D., Longmore, M. A., & Giordano, P. C. (2014). Young adult casual sexual behavior: Life-course-specific motivations and consequences. Sociological Perspectives, 57, 79–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731121413517557.
Manning, W. D., Giordano, P. C., & Longmore, M. A. (2006). Hooking up: The relationship contexts of “nonrelationship” sex. Journal of Adolescent Research, 21, 459–483. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558406291692.
Moffitt, K. H., & Singer, J. A. (1994). Continuity in the life story: Self-defining memories, affect, and approach/avoidance personal strivings. Journal of Personality, 62, 21–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1994.tb00793.x.
Neuendorf, K. A. (2002). The content analysis guidebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Norona, J. C., Olmstead, S. B., & Welsh, D. P. (2017). Breaking up in emerging adulthood: A developmental perspective of relationship dissolution. Emerging Adulthood, 5, 116–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696816658585.
Norona, J. C., Olmstead, S. B., & Welsh, D. P. (2018). Betrayals in emerging adulthood: A developmental perspective of infidelity. Journal of Sex Research, 55, 84–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2017.1342757.
Olmstead, S. B., Conrad, K. A., & Anders, K. M. (2018). First semester college students’ definitions of and expectations for engaging in hookups. Journal of Adolescent Research, 33, 275–305. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558417698571.
Olmstead, S. B., Pasley, K., & Fincham, F. D. (2013). Hooking up and penetrative hookups: Correlates that differentiate college men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42, 573–583. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-9907-9.
Olmstead, S. B., Roberson, P. N. E., Pasley, K., & Fincham, F. D. (2015). Hooking up and risk behaviors among first semester college men: What is the role of pre-college experience? Journal of Sex Research, 52, 186–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2013.843147.
Owen, J., & Fincham, F. D. (2011). Young adults’ emotional reactions after hooking up encounters. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 321–330. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-010-9652-x.
Owen, J., Rhoades, G. K., Stanley, S. M., & Fincham, F. F. (2010). “Hooking up” among college students: Demographic and psychosocial correlates. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 653–663. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-008-9414-1.
Paolacci, G., & Chandler, J. (2014). Inside the turk: Understanding mechanical turk as a participant pool. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23, 184–188. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721414531598.
Shepardson, R. L., Walsh, J. L., Carey, K. B., & Carey, M. P. (2016). Benefits of hooking up: Self-reports from first-year college women. International Journal of Sexual Health, 28, 216–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2016.1178677.
Simon, W., & Gagnon, J. H. (1984). Sexual scripts. Society, 22, 53–60.
Simon, W., & Gagnon, J. H. (1986). Sexual scripts: Permanence and change. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 15, 97–120.
Snapp, S., Ryu, E., & Kerr, J. (2015). The upside of hooking up: College students’ positive hookup experiences. International Journal of Sexual Health, 27, 43–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2014.939247.
Stanley, S. M., Rhoades, G. K., & Markman, H. J. (2006). Sliding versus deciding: Inertia and the premarital cohabitation effect. Family Relations, 55, 499–509. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2006.00418.x.
Vander Ven, T., & Beck, J. (2009). Getting drunk and hooking up: An exploratory study of the relationship between alcohol intoxication and casual coupling in a university sample. Sociological Spectrum, 29, 626–648. https://doi.org/10.1080/02732170903051417.
Vrangalova, Z. (2015). Hooking up and psychological well-being in college students: Short-term prospective links across different hookup definitions. Journal of Sex Research, 52, 485–498. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2014.910745.
Weaver, S. J., & Herold, E. S. (2000). Casual sex and women: Measurement and motivational issues. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 12, 23–41. https://doi.org/10.1300/J056v12n03_02.
White, J. M., Klein, D. M., & Martin, T. F. (2015). Family theories (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Olmstead, S.B., Norona, J.C. & Anders, K.M. How Do College Experience and Gender Differentiate the Enactment of Hookup Scripts Among Emerging Adults?. Arch Sex Behav 48, 1769–1783 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1233-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1233-4