One of my dearest friends and clinical psychologist, Monique, popped me a Power Point presentation she researched and presented to her class on the topic of “Hooking Up.” She allowed me to publish the results here and they are rather quite compelling.
“Post hookup feelings of regret” was most interesting, “women’s feelings of regret centered on shame and self blame, compounded by not knowing their partner and lack of further contact with partner” while “men’s feelings of regret centered on a unattractive choice of hookup partner.”
Clinical Psychology Research on “Hooking Up” in College courtesy of Monique Moore
Definition
Hooking up (Paul, McManus & Hayes, 2000):
A sexual encounter which may or may not include sexual intercourse, usually occurring on only one occasion between two people who are strangers or brief acquaintances.
Frequency of Hookups
Paul & Hayes, 2002 survey of 187 college students (155 women, 32 men)
- 70% overall had participated in at least 1 hookup. (75% of men, 84% of women). Of that proportion, 91% had had more than one.
- Average number of hookups for both genders 10.28 (SD 11.22) during their college career
No significant difference between men/women in frequency of hookups
General statistics on hookups
Paul & Hayes, 2002
- 55% of students said that hookups involve anonymous partners
- 49% report that hookups are planned in terms of occurrence but not choice of partner
- 60% believe that either men or women are the instigators, whereas 28% believe that men are the instigators. 3% believe that women are the instigators
During hookups
Paul & Hayes, 2002
- 58% report that alcohol or drugs are typically present, 35% only alcohol, only 6% neither drugs nor alcohol
- 69% believe that hookup partners do not communicate, 25% think that partners engage in small talk, 4% say partners talk about what’s happening, 2% talk about future meeting, 1% talk about sexual history
- 16% of individuals who hooked up felt pressured during the hookup, whereas 34% felt out of control during the hookup (Paul, McManus & Hayes, 2000)
Post hookup
Men and women differed in what their feelings of regret consisted of (Paul & Hayes, 2002).
- Women’s feelings of regret centered on shame and self blame, compounded by not knowing their partner and lack of further contact with partner
- Men’s feelings of regret centered on a unattractive choice of hookup partner
Post Hookup
Other research suggests (Paul, McManus, & Hayes 2000) that post hookup
- 28% of participants that ‘hooked up’ but did not have intercourse and 49% of those that did have intercourse never saw their partner again
- Only 12% of all hookup participants indicated that a hookup evolved into a romantic relationship, that average length of which was 4 months.
Pluralistic Ignorance and hooking up
Pluralistic ignorance (Allport, 1924):
- When each individual in a group believes that their private attitudes are discrepant from the standard displayed by the public behavior of others. Accordingly, each group member conforms to their perception of the group standard, while believing that they are the only ones who don’t privately uphold it.
Research suggests (Lambert, Kahn & Apple, 2003)
- College students evaluated their own comfort level with hooking up as significantly lower than their estimate of same sex peer (F (1,262)= 7.55, p<.01). This effect was more pronounced for men.
Both men and women significantly overestimate the other gender's actual comfort with various hooking up behavior
Pluralistic Ignorance and Hooking up
Pluralistic Ignorance may be compounded by the communication surrounding hookups
- Many individuals say they discuss ONLY their positive hookup experiences with their friends, which may create a glorified norm that doesn’t accurately represent many hookup experiences. A vicious cycle ensues where if the hookup doesn’t meet the positive standards, students self blame and hide the experience, which just reinforces the positive standard (Paul & Hayes, 2002)
Personality and situational variables’ influence in hookups
What distinguishes individuals who don’t hookup (N-HU), from those who hookup without intercourse (HU), and who those who hookup with intercourse (HU-S)? (Paul, McManus & Hayes, 2000)
- Alcohol intoxication and fear of loss of individuality increases across hookup groups (N-HU
Personality and situational variables’ influence in hookups
HU-S individuals are distinguished from HU individuals by a game playing love style (sexual conquest rather than connection)
- N-HU individuals prefer not to be the center of attention, are not fearful of intimacy, are least likely to have a game playing orientation toward partners, and are highest on self-esteem and have significantly longer romantic relationship commitments (M = 28.3, SD=19.95.) versus other groups (MHU=17.41, SD = 16.37 M HU-S=14.3, SD =14.3)
Comments (6)
As a N-HU (although, I’m still fuzzy on the definition of “hookup,” but I’m pretty sure I’m a N-HU), I found the last paragraph of findings compelling:
“N-HU individuals prefer not to be the center of attention, are not fearful of intimacy, are least likely to have a game playing orientation toward partners, and are highest on self-esteem and have significantly longer romantic relationship commitments.”
If you can find out: What were the correlations between N-HU and each factor? How did you test self-esteem?
love it. thanks for sharing.
only a couple nits.
first of all, I hate when people say “alcohol or drugs”. this is like saying “candy or sweets”.
second, the regrets are the best. female puritan guilt and male remorse about how hot they were (not).
Get comfortable with people differentiating alcohol and drugs, Anthony. While the former is of course a subset of the latter, many people consume alcohol without succumbing to addiction and therefore can distinguish between them.
However, that is not the major point. Which is, when people say ‘alcohol or drugs’, they are not referring to rubbing alcohol or cologne (unless you’re Kitty Dukakis), nyquil, or tylenol or advil. They mean legal booze and illegal drugs. While I empathize with your point, I have no problem with the distinction in its current incarnation.
Faust -
And many people consume illegal drugs without succumbing to addiction.
And for Christ’s sake, I know what they MEAN. I’m just pointing out how stupid it is. Alcohol is a drug, and it is far and away this society’s most dangerous one. Get used to that.
Boom i beat the average of college hookups. I’m at 17 and am only in two years of school so far… BOOOOM