Sexual hook-up culture With more emerging adults having casual sex, researchers are exploring psychological consequences of such encounters. Garcia, The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University, Bloomington; and Chris Reiber, Sean G. Massey, and Ann M. Merriwether, Binghamton University, State University of New York February 2013, Vol 44, No. This feature will provide you with updates on critical developments in psychology, drawn from peer-reviewed literature and written by leading psychology experts. To earn CE credit, after you read this article,. Upon successful completion of the test a score of 75 percent or higher , you can print your CE certificate immediately. The APA Office of CE in Psychology retains responsibility for the program. For more information, call 800 374-2721, ext. It is an unprecedented time in the history of human sexuality. Hookups are becoming more engrained in popular culture, reflecting both evolved sexual predilections and changing social and sexual scripts. Hook-up activities may include a wide range of sexual behaviors, such as kissing, oral sex and penetrative intercourse. However, these encounters often transpire without any promise of — or desire for — a more traditional romantic relationship. In this article, we review the literature on sexual hookups and consider the research on the psychological consequences of casual sex. This is a transdisciplinary literature review that draws on the evidence and theoretical tensions between evolutionary theoretical models and sociocultural theory. It suggests that these encounters are becoming increasingly normative among adolescents and young adults in North America and can best be understood from a biopsychosocial perspective. Today's hook-up culture represents a marked shift in openness and acceptance of uncommitted sex. A cultural revolution Hookups — defined in this article as brief uncommitted sexual encounters between individuals who are not romantic partners or dating each other — have emerged from more general social shifts taking place during the last century. Hookups began to become more frequent in the 1920s, with the upsurge of automobiles and novel entertainment, such as movie theaters. Instead of courting at home under a parent's watchful eye, young adults left the home and were able to explore their sexuality more freely. By the 1960s, young adults became even more sexually liberated, with the rise of feminism, widespread availability of birth control and growth of sex-integrated college party events. Today, sexual behavior outside of traditional committed romantic pair-bonds has become increasingly typical and socially acceptable Bogle, 2007, 2008. Influencing this shift in sexuality is popular culture. The media have become a source of sex education, filled with often inaccurate portrayals of sexuality Kunkel et al. The themes of books, plots of movies and television shows, and lyrics of numerous songs all demonstrate a permissive sexuality among consumers. The most recent data suggest that between 60 percent and 80 percent of North American college students have had some sort of hook-up experience. This is consistent with the view of emerging adulthood typical college age as a period of developmental transition Arnett, 2000 , exploring and internalizing sexuality and romantic intimacy, now including hookups Stinson, 2010. Although much of the current research has been done on college campuses, among younger adolescents, 70 percent of sexually active 12- to 21-year-olds reported having had uncommitted sex within the last year Grello et al. Similarly, in a sample of seventh, ninth and 11th graders, 32 percent of participants had experienced sexual intercourse and 61 percent of sexually experienced teenagers reported a sexual encounter outside a dating relationship; this represents approximately one-fifth of the entire sample Manning et al. Affective responses to hooking up On average, both men and women appear to have higher positive affect than negative affect after a hookup. The gap between men and women is notable and demonstrates an average sex difference in affective reactions. Similarly, in a study of 832 college students, 26 percent of women and 50 percent of men reported feeling positive after a hookup, and 49 percent of women and 26 percent of men reported a negative reaction the remainders for each sex had a mix of both positive and negative reactions; Owen et al. However, both sexes also experience some negative affect as well. Hook-up regret A number of studies have looked at regret with respect to hookups and have documented the negative feelings men and women may feel after casual sex. In a large Web-based study of 1,468 undergraduate students, participants reported a variety of consequences: 27. It appears the method of asking participants whether and when they had experienced regret i. This is consistent with Stinson's 2010 message of sexual development requiring experimentation, including trial and error, good feelings and bad feelings. Another study identified two types of sexual encounters that were particularly predictive of regret: engaging in penetrative intercourse with someone known less than 24 hours and engaging in penetrative intercourse with someone only once. Among a sample of 1,743 individuals who had experienced a one-night stand, Campbell 2008 showed that most men and women had combinations of both positive and negative affective reactions following this event. Hook-up culture and mental health An individual history of hook-up behavior has been associated with a variety of mental health factors. In a study of 394 young adults followed across a university semester, those with more depressive symptoms and greater feelings of loneliness who engaged in penetrative sex hookups subsequently reported a reduction in both depressive symptoms and feelings of loneliness Owen et al. At the same time, participants who reported fewer depressive symptoms and fewer feelings of loneliness who engaged in penetrative sex hookups subsequently reported an increase in both depressive symptoms and feelings of loneliness Owen et al. In another study, among 291 sexually experienced individuals, people who had the most regret after uncommitted sex also had more symptoms of depression than those who had no regret Welsh et al. However, in the same sample, women's but not men's degree of depressive symptoms increased with number of previous sex partners within the last year Welsh et al. In the first study to investigate the issue of self-esteem and hookups, both men and women who had ever engaged in an uncommitted sexual encounter had lower overall self-esteem scores compared with those without uncommitted sexual experiences Paul et al. Just as multiple motivations can be in conflict, a person's affective reactions during and after a hookup can be in conflict. Discrepancies between behaviors and desires, particularly with respect to social-sexual relationships, have dramatic implications for physical and mental health. Despite the allure of engaging in uncommitted sex, research shows that people engage in these behaviors even when they feel uncomfortable doing so Lambert et al. In addition, people overestimate others' comfort with hookups and assign variable meanings to those behaviors Lambert et al. Misperception of sexual norms is one potential driver for people to behave in ways they do not personally endorse. In a replication and extension of Lambert et al. Hook-up scenarios may include feelings of pressure and performance anxiety, contributing to feelings of discomfort. In Paul et al. In this sample, 12 percent of participants felt out of control when intercourse was not involved, while 22 percent felt out of control when sexual intercourse took place. Note that this study asked participants about typical hookups, and although this is informative for general patterns, it does not capture specific factors influencing specific individual scenarios. Hookups can result in guilt and negative feelings. The percentage of women expressing guilt was more than twice that of men. This is consistent with a classic study by Clark and Hatfield 1989 , which found that men are much more likely than women to accept casual sex offers from people they find attractive. Conley 2011 replicated and extended this finding, demonstrating that, under certain conditions of perceived comfort, the gender differences in acceptance of casual sex are diminished. Possibly contributing to findings on gender differences in thoughts of worry, in a sample of 507 undergraduate students, more women than men hoped that a relationship would develop following a hookup. It is possible that regret and negative consequences result from individuals attempting to negotiate multiple desires. It is likely that a substantial portion of emerging adults today are compelled to publicly engage in hookups while desiring both immediate sexual gratification and more stable romantic attachments. Hook-up culture and sexual risk Despite the prevalence of positive feelings, hookups can include negative outcomes, such as emotional and psychological injury, sexual violence, sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. Compounding disease risks, people who hook up are more likely to have concurrent sexual partners Paik, 2010b. Moreover, in a sample of 1,468 college students, among the 429 students who had engaged in oral sex, anal sex or vaginal intercourse in their most recent hookup, only 46. In terms of condom use, another issue of concern involving hookups is the high comorbidity with substance use. As part of a larger study, in a sample of several thousand people ages 15 to 25, men and women who had used marijuana or cocaine in the previous 12 months were also more likely than nonusers to have had nonmonogamous sex in the past 12 months van Gelder et al. In Fielder and Carey's 2010 study among 118 first-semester female college students, participants reported that 64 percent of uncommitted sexual encounters followed alcohol use, with the average occuring after consuming three alcoholic drinks. Similarly, another study found that nearly 61 percent of undergraduate students used alcohol, with an average of 3. Not all hook-up encounters are necessarily wanted or consensual. In a sample of 178 college students, participants noted that most of their unwanted sex occurred in the context of hookups: 77. Of those women, 70 percent experienced unwanted sex in the context of a hookup and 57 percent in the context of a committed romantic relationship Hill et al. Even more worrisome, a proportion of hookups also involve nonconsensual sex. In a study by Lewis et al. Unwanted and nonconsensual sexual encounters are more likely occurring alongside alcohol and substance use. Alcohol may also serve as an excuse, purposely consumed as a strategy to protect the self from having to justify hook-up behavior later Paul, 2006. Although alcohol and drugs are likely a strong factor, it is still largely unclear what role individual differences play in shaping decisions to engage in hookups. In a sample of 394 young adults, the strongest predictor of hook-up behavior was having previously hooked up — those who engaged in penetrative sex hookups were 600 percent more likely than others to repeat this over the course of a university semester Owen et al. Other factors may include media consumption, personality and biological predispositions. Garcia, MacKillop, et al. This may, in some cases, point to fairly stable individual differences. Sex differences in hook-up behaviors Some research has considered the interactions of sex and individual differences in predicting hook-up behavior. Still unclear are the degree to which hookups may result in positive reactions, and whether young men and young women are sexually satisfied in these encounters. Fine 1988 has argued that sex negativity is even more pronounced when directed at women and, further, that the possibility of desire seems to be missing from the sexual education of young women. This discrepancy in the socialization and education of men and women may be a significant influence on behavioral patterns and outcomes in sexual hookups. Armstrong, England and Fogarty 2009 addressed sexual satisfaction in a large study of online survey responses from 12,295 undergraduates from 17 different colleges. Participants were asked about oral sex rates and orgasm in their most recent hookup and most recent relationship sexual event. In this study, men reported receiving oral sex both in hookups and in relationships much more than women. In first-time hookups that involved oral sex, 55 percent included only men receiving oral sex, 19 percent only women receiving oral sex, and 27 percent both mutually receiving; in last relationship sexual activity, 32 percent included only men receiving oral sex, 16 percent included only women receiving oral sex, and 52 percent included both mutually receiving. In both contexts, men also reached orgasm more often than women. In first-time hookups, 31 percent of men and 10 percent of women reached orgasm; in last relationship sexual activity, 85 percent of men and 68 percent of women reached orgasm. To achieve this, the attitudes and practices of both men and women need to be confronted. Men should be challenged to treat even first hookup partners as generously as the women they hook up with treat them. Evidence suggests that both pleasure and reproductive motives may influence these sexual patterns, as seen in participants' reactions following uncommitted sex. By definition, sexual hookups provide the allure of sex without strings attached. Despite their increasing social acceptability, however, developing research suggests that sexual hookups may leave more strings attached than many participants might first assume. Garcia, MS, PhD, is CTRD Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction and member of the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior and the Cognitive Science Program at Indiana University, Bloomington. Chris Reiber, PhD, MPH, is interim associate dean for research for Harpur College of Arts and Sciences, director of the graduate program in biomedical anthropology, and associate professor of anthropology at Binghamton University, SUNY. Massey, PhD, is a research associate professor in the women, gender and sexuality studies program at Binghamton University, SUNY. He received his doctorate from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His research focuses on the psychology of prejudice and privilege, research and policy, sexual behaviors and the study of LGBT lives. Merriwether, PhD, is a lecturer in psychology and human development at Binghamton University, SUNY. She received her doctorate from Pennsylvania State University in the area of developmental psychology. Her research focuses on the development of reproductive health attitudes and sexual socialization.