Hooking up – Everybody’s Doing It
Doesn’t it seem like everybody’s hooking up? The reality is – if students were doing it as much as they seem to be doing in the movies, they probably wouldn’t be able to focus on academics. But how do we define hooking up? Relatively speaking, the answer is pretty vague. For some, it can only mean First Base – full intercourse. To others, heavy make-out sessions or oral sex is considered hooking up. Typically, though, hooking up is a casual and temporary thing, free of emotional or nurturing connection – hardly the foundation for an enduring relationship
Some people are satisfied with a series of brief flings, without the emotional aspect of sex. Over time, though, the lack of intimate, meaningful connection can distort the romance and passion that is such a gratifying aspect of human experience. For these reasons, some students wait to have sex until their romantic attachment becomes an actual boyfriend or girlfriend. Others choose abstinence.
Fact: A 2005 study of four universities, published by the Journal of American College Health, found that 80% of college students reported having no more than one sexual partner in the previous year. Surveyed students also believed that only 22% of their peers had similar experiences. Their perceptions might be like yours – that everybody’s switching partners as often as they charge their cell phones. So what’s the actual scoop? Most students overestimate both the frequency and level of other students’ sexual experiences. If you’re not hooking up, you’re not so different – because not everybody’s doing it.
References
Forke, Myers, Catallozzi, and Schwarz. “Relationship Violence Among Female and Male College Undergraduate Students.” Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine. 2008;162(7):634-641
Scholly, Kristen, Katz, Gascoigne, and Holck. “Using Social Norms Theory to Explain Perceptions and Sexual Health Behaviors of Undergraduate College Students: An Exploratory Study.” Journal of American College Health; Jan/Feb2005, Vol. 53 Issue 4, p159-166
Transitions: Building a New Community. University 101. University of South Carolina, 2007, p 187-190