College Students

1
College Students Expectations for Hook-Ups.

• Amanda Smitley
• Hanover College

2
Why Study This?

• Interest in sex research
• Prominent behavior among college students (Paul,
  2000)

3
Definition of a Hook-up

• A hook-up is a brief sexual encounter between two
  people who either do not know each other at all,
  who are just acquainted, or have had a previous
  non-sexual relationship. The sexual encounter
  may involve petting, oral sex, and/or sexual
  intercourse (kissing alone does not constitute a
  hook-up.
• (Adjusted Paul 2006, 141)

4
Gender Differences in Sexual Attitudes

• 50 of both men and women agreed to take the date
• 75 of men said yes to the sexual invitation
• Not a single woman said yes to sex
• (Clark and Hatfield ,1989)

5
Who Hooks-Up More

• Men exhibit more permissive attitudes toward, and
  greater interest in experiencing, uncommitted
  sexual activity than do women (Oliver Hyde,
  1993)

6
Motives for Hook-Up

• 47 of men -- sexual desire
• 29 of women -- sexual desire
• 9 of men -- increase in relationship probability
• 44 of women -- increase in relationship
  probability
• (Regan and Dreyer,1999)
• Different Experiences of Sex
• Women traditionally have been known to link love
  with sex, while men have been known to separate
  the two (Glass Wright, 1985)

7
Unexplored Areas

• Expectations vs. motives
• Motives drive
• Expectations predictions
• Changes after the hook-up
• New dimension of hook-up research

8
Research Questions

• What are the expectations that college students
  have about hook-ups?
• How do expectations of men and women differ?
• Do expectations about the relationship change
  after a hook-up?

9
Hypotheses

• Males will have significantly more hook-ups than
  females.
• Males will expect a pleasurable sexual experience
  during a hook-up significantly more than females.
• Females will expect a romantic relationship to
  form after the hook-up significantly more than
  males.

10
MethodsParticipants

• 66 total
• 44 female
• Ages 18-29
• M20.48
• 42 Caucasian

• Class Level
• 27 Freshman
• 14 Sophomore
• 11 Junior
• 14 Senior

11
Materials

• Questionnaire posted on Psychological Research On
  the Net (Krantz, 2008)
• Informed Consent
• Demographics
• Hook-up history
• Hook-up expectations
• Changed expectations after hook-ups
• Debriefing form

12
Demographics

• Age
• Sex
• Class level
• Ethnicity

• Religious Affiliation
• Greek Affiliation
• Relationship Status
• Sexual Orientation

13
Hook-Up History(Example Questions)

• Approximately, how many hook-ups have you been
  involved in since beginning college?
• Of the hook-ups you have been involved in,
  approximately how many have involved alcohol or
  other drugs?

14
Hook-Up Expectations(Example Questions)

• Closed-Ended Questions
• In most of your hook-ups, to what extent did you
  expect to have a pleasurable sexual experience?
• In most of your hook-ups, to what extent did you
  expect to relieve boredom?

• Open-Ended Questions
• What do you expect to get from an ideal hook-up?
• What would a bad hook-up look like?

15
Changed Expectations After Hook-ups(Example
Questions)

• Have your expectations ever changed after a
  hook-up?
• After a hook-up, have you kept in contact with
  that person you hooked-up with?

16

• RESULTS

17
Number of Hook-ups Versus Grade Level and Gender

• Female range 0-15 Male range 0-25
• Main Effect for Grade F(1,3)6.07, plt.01

18
Hook-Up Behaviors

• 33 out of 66 participants reported drugs or
  alcohol being used during the majority of their
  hook-ups.

• 15 participants reported never using any form of
  STI protection during a hook-up. (3 men, 12
  women)

19
Expect Pleasurable Sexual Experience

• t(64)-.59, p.56 Hypothesis 2 not confirmed

20
Expect Relationship

• t(63).422, p.674 Hypothesis 3 not confirmed

21
Expect Better Reputation

• t(64)-3.63, plt.01

22
Expect Popularity

• t(64)-2.48, p.02

23
Expectations After the Hook-Up

• 27 participants (41) -- experienced changed
  expectations
• 39 participants (59) -- engaged in a romantic
  relationship
• 59 participants (89 ) -- remained in contact
• 44 participants (67) -- had regrets

24
Discussion

• There were no significant gender differences
  between number of hook-ups, expectations of a
  romantic relationship, or expectation of a
  pleasurable hook-up.
• However, there were significant gender
  differences between popularity and a better
  reputation from peers in regards to hook-ups.
• Male participants viewed casual sex as a means of
  enhancing their reputation among other men (Regan
  and Dreyer, 1999)

25
Discussion

• Hook-ups are common however, not everyone
  engaging in them uses safe protection.
• Not surprisingly, based on the stereotypes, the
  use of alcohol is quite common however, as seen
  there were a number of hook-ups where alcohol was
  not involved

26
Future Directions

• Diversity
• Only had 66 total participants and 67 were
  female.
• Predominantly Caucasian participants
• Focus more on drugs and alcohol
• Compare the expectations that individuals who
  have never engaged in a hook-up have in
  comparison to those that have already hooked-up

27
Conclusion

• Some of the participants reported experiences of
  ambivalence or mixed feelings in regards to
  hook-ups.

28

• QUESTIONS?