18
Psychology
, researchers describe this trend, often referred to
as
hookup culture
. They state,
Hooking up—brief uncommitted sexual encounters
among individuals who are not romantic partners or dat-
ing each other—has taken root within the sociocultural
milieu of adolescents, emerging adults, and men and
women throughout the Western world. Over the past 60
years, the prioritization of traditional forms of courting
and pursuing romantic relationships has shifted to more
casual “hookups.”
12
Donna Freitas is a college teacher. In 2006 she surveyed
more than twenty-five hundred college students across the Unit-
ed States, and since then she has continued to talk to both stu-
dents and teachers. She has written a book about her findings,
and she reports that in contrast
to the past, students face enor-
mous pressure to engage in ca-
sual sex, particularly in college.
Others contend that while it
is common to talk about hooking
up, in reality most teens actually
have sex as part of a relationship,
not as a hookup. The Guttmach-
er Institute reports that among
teens who have had sex, only 16
percent of girls and 28 percent of
boys said their first sexual experi-
ence was with a casual friend or
acquaintance. Instead, 70 per-
cent of females and 56 percent
of males said that the first time they had sex it was with a steady
partner. Researchers Best and Bogle say these numbers are
consistent with their findings that most young people who have
sex do so as part of a relationship. They explain that these rela-
tionships might be short, with teens breaking up and developing
“Hookups are
simple and do not
have to involve
romantic feelings.
When a hookup
ends, people can
usually move on,
free of any ongoing
stress involving the
matter.”
13
—Lindsay Nance, editor of the Terra
Linda High School newspaper.
