Hook-up Culture and the Impact on College Student Environment

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Hook-up Culture and the Impact on College Student Environment

Samantha Danico
University of Memphis
Department of Leadership and Policy Studies
11/18/15

CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORSHIP: I certify that I am the author. I have cited

all sources from which I used data, ideas, or words, either quoted directly or
paraphrased. I also certify that this paper was prepared by me specifically
for this course.
Signature _____Samantha Danico____________

Date: 11/18/2015

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Abstract
College students are turning to a new hooking-up culture in order to get the benefits of
being in a relationship while not being committed to one person, which would be time
consuming and costly. But, this hook-up culture does seem to have consequences. Having
frequent partners that are not well known can lead to the transmission of STDs or STIs. Also,
many of these hook-ups happen while in the presence of alcohol, which lead to potential rape
victims or sexual assault charges due to the lack of consent given. With those matters in mind,
student mental health is a concern as well, do the depression, loneliness, or shame that one may
feel after hooking up. These negative effects may also cause a student to perform poorly in
classes or even drop out of school. Recommendations are given in how to address these issues.

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Hook-up Culture and the Impact on College Student Environment

As new generations of students are coming into the American institutions, change is
bound to follow with them. One prominent change that is being seen on college campuses
around the country is change in the hook-up and sexual culture on a college campus. Students
are opting out of the traditional relationship of one partner in a monogamous relationship.
Instead students are choosing to have short term sexual relationships with friends, acquaintances,
or strangers (Downing-Matibag and Geisinger, 2009). According to Downing-Matibag and
Geisinger (2009), this is due to the potential monetary value of being in a relationship and simply
because students in college no longer have time to dedicate to a relationship because of their
focus on a degree. Students are not as interested in settling down in a relationship, but instead
are focused on reaching their educational and career goals by focusing all of their attention to
their studies. Students are too busy to tend to a relationship, but still want the benefits of being
in one (Downing-Matibag and Geisinger, 2009). But, how is this new hook-up culture changing
our students social environment on the college campus? From social life, academic life, to
student health, how is this new hook-up culture changing our students, and how can we address
these students new needs?
Downing-Matibag and Geisinger (2009) define hooking up as being a range that is as
little as kissing to as much as having intercourse. A study conducted by Manthos, Owens, and
Fincham (2014) found that high sexual hook-up activity in college correlated highly with student
stress, alcohol use, depression symptoms, and lower interest in religion. According to this study,
these types of behavioral indicators can be predictors of a person who will be more likely to

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engage in sexual hook-up activity that will lead to intercourse. Downing-Matibag and Geisinger
(2009) findings also match the findings found in this study in that students that disclosed that
they had engaged in sexual hook-ups that resulted in intercourse had alcohol involved in some
way. Given that alcohol seems to be a predictor of hook-up behavior, would the absence of
alcohol lower the predictability that a hook-up would occur? According to LaBrie, Hummer,
Ghaidarov, Lac, and Kenney (2014) this would be a correct statement. In their study of 826
college students, about half of those students claimed that the sexual activity they engaged in
during their hook-ups would not have happened if alcohol was not present in their system at the
time. Further, they found that the more alcohol that was consumed the farther the students were
willing to go during their hook-up. Alcohol playing a factor in the likeliness of a hook-up can
lead to further problems for the students after the hook-up.
According to the United States Department of Justice (2014), when alcohol has been
consumed a person can no longer give consent to sex or sexual activity. This is one way that sex
is considered rape in the absence of physical force. This definition was changed in 2014 when
the rise of alcohol related rapes became more prevalent (United States Department of Justice,
2014). According to this law, much of what is seen in hook-up culture on a college campus can
actually be considered rape. In interviews conducted by Downing-Matibag and Geisinger (2009)
multiple students disclosed that the hook-up they were participating in was unwanted. One
stated that they were afraid of their partner, not knowing him well, may hurt her if she refused
the hook-up and therefore continued. Another was pleaded by a friend to hook-up, after a night
of drinking, until she agreed. Neither of the women in these stores stated they were raped, but

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they may be unaware that the law defines those circumstances as rape. According to Rocheleau
(2014), reports of rape on college campuses have risen remarkable in the past five years. The
new hook-up culture that we are seeing on college campuses could be one possible cause of the
rise in these occurrences. Though according to a study conducted by Littleton, Tabernik,
Canales, and Backstrom (2009) concluded that though most students in their study who had bad
hook-up experience talked about feelings of shame and regret, most of the scripts given did not
disclose that sexual assault or rape occurred. Therefore, though students are engaging in
behavior that is considered sexual assault or rape by law, many of these students do not consider
themselves as a sexual assault or rape victim. This could possibly be due to a lack of education
on the matter or the student not wanting to label themselves as a victim. Swauger, Witham, and
Shinberg (2013) explain that most sexual assaults actually happen with acquaintances and friends
and not strangers and that students are less likely to recognize the sex as rape. Kahn, Jackson,
Kully, Badger, and Halvorsen (2003) agree with this notion and found in their research that when
alcohol is present, and when the victim knows their perpetrator, the victim is less likely to
classify their experience as rape. Not only do the victims relieve their perpetrator of guilt but
they also blame themselves.
Mental health issues also seem to be a problem regarding the hook-up culture. Owen and
Fincham (2011) describe the emotional toll that the hook-up culture is having on college
students. They describe that men have more positive reactions to a hook-up than women do.
They also concluded that many of those who considered the hook-ups a positive experience were
in hopes of a committed relationship stemming out of the hook-up. Though, those who did not

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have that expectation met, (90% of the students) were met with feelings of loneliness and regret.
This could mean that counseling services will have more visits from students after a hook-up has
occurred. With feelings of regret and loneliness, it is possible that men and women after a hookup will need some form of counseling. Where college can already be a stressful and difficult
environment for students, hooking-up is highly correlated with psychological distress as well as
negatively correlated with student well-being (Bersamina, Zamboangab, Schwartzc, Donnelland,
Hudsone, Weisskirchf, Kimg, Agochah, Whitbournei and Carawayj, 2013).
Banyard, Ward, Cohn, Plante, Moorhead and Walsh (2007) found that women are more
likely to attend sexual assault awareness and other prevention programs that may make them
more knowledgeable in the negative outcomes of the hook-up culture. Though, they also find
that women have higher rates of reporting which could be because they have attended more
prevention programs and understand the procedures on how to report. Unfortunately, it was
found that even though women are reporting more often, men and women have the same
negative effects, such as depression, feelings of loneliness, and other negative outcomes.
Therefore, if men do not report, counseling services may be missing students that need help due
to the effects of hook-up culture.
Mental health is not the only threat to students who engage in this risky sexual behavior.
Most of the students who participate in this behavior are having the hook-ups with strangers or
acquaintances they have recently met (Downing-Matibat and Geisinger, 2009). DowningMatibag and Geisinger (2009) believe that there are further problems to hooking up than rape
and mental health. They discuss problems with students and the contraction of STDs or STIs. In

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a survey of 71 college students they found that, most of the students surveyed were not
concerned about the possibility of contracting an STD or STI during their hook ups due to a
number of factors. First, students put trust in their partners that they would disclose if they had a
STD or STI. Second, the students put trust in their community, thinking that STDs and STIs were
not prevalent in their community. Last, students were not well informed about the dangers of
STDs and STIs and did not understand how to protect themselves during oral, vaginal, or anal
intercourse.
Braithwaite, Coulson, Keddington, and Fincham (2015) believe that part of the problem
with the current hook-up culture is the influence of pornography. They believe that because
pornography is so readily available and at a cheap cost, it is actually influencing how our college
students interact sexually. They conclude that the more a student watches pornography, the more
a student will mirror that behavior. For instance, a student may not use a condom because it is
not typical in the porn that they watch for a condom to be used. Also, they concluded that the
more a student watches pornography, they more sexual partners they will have. This increase in
sexual partners as well as the lack of contraceptive use can lead to potential STDs or STIs being
passed from person to person (Braithwaite, Coulson, Kedington, and Fincham, 2015). DowningMatibag and Geisinger found that multiple students who claimed to not use contraception during
oral sex blamed pornography for being a key factor in their decision to not use condoms. They
claimed that women would not view that as normal sexual behavior because that is not what is
portrayed on pornography. Therefore, not only is much of this sexual hook-up behavior nonconsensual, it is also not safe.

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Although many students will not classify this hook-up behavior as rape, it still takes an
emotional toll, as discussed. This emotional toll can have serious outcomes for the students
education and academic success. Kahn, Jackson, Kully, Badger, and Halvorsen (2003) discuss
that women who are victims of rape or sexual assault in college will drop out of college within
one semester of the rape or sexual assault occurring. The victim no longer feels safe in the
college environment. For those rape and sexual assault victims who do remain in college, they
do not have it easy. Victims who experience their sexual assault or rape in their first semester of
college will make lower grade point averages than those students who did not experience a
sexual assault or a rape. Also, the severity of the sexual assault correlated with how poorly they
were performing in the classroom (Jordan, Combs, and Smith, 2014).
While the new hook-up culture has its benefits of being able to have fun, feel good, and
not be tied down, college students may be suffering due to hooking-up. The research presented
has shown that there are numerous ways that hooking-up can be detrimental to a students
development in college. With mental health issues on the rise on college campuses across
America (Clay, 2013), adding a new factor that can make a students mental wellbeing diminish
seems to be something campus administrators need to focus on. Education may be key in
helping students understand how this type of behavior can be hurtful to their college
development, but also how to protect themselves from STDs or STIs, becoming a victim of rape
or being accused of rape, and protecting their own mental health. This education could start with
alcohol education. Alcohol education is becoming popular among colleges in the U.S. and there
are a multitude of programs a school can choose from, such as AlcoholEdu, an online interactive

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program. It would also be beneficial for students to go through consent programming. Consent
programming and education will help students understand what is and is not consent, which
would hopefully cut down on the amount of hooking-up that is happening under the influence of
alcohol. While consent and alcohol education is important, students should also be reminded
about how to keep themselves safe and healthy. This would encourage a need for sexual
education which would include education about STDs and STIs and how they are contracted.
This education should also include how students can keep themselves safe from these types of
diseases. From what the research discussed shows is that students dont understand the risks
involved with this type of hook-up behavior and are unaware on how to keep themselves safe.
These educational steps could help the prevention of the negative outcomes of hooking-up.
Though, the question still remains of when this education should be implemented. Is it
too late to be presenting this type of education in the first semester of a students college career?
Olmstead, Roberson, Pasley, and Fincham (2015) may say yes. In their research they found that
men are more likely to engage in hook-up behavior in their first semester of college if they have
had previous experience with hooking up in high school. Also, their study concluded that if a
male student in high school had experiences with drinking, then they are more likely to engage in
hook-up activities while under the influence. Given that the results of their study show that
students may be engaging in hook-up culture practices at a younger age than college, introducing
training programs to help prevent the negative effects of the hook-up culture at the college level
may be ineffective. It may be beneficial for high schools to implement these types of

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educational programs into their curriculum, so that when students enter into the college
environment, they may be less likely to engage in risky hook-up behavior.
While hooking up in college seems to be like a good option for students due to the lack of
time commitment, money spent, and lack of emotional attachment, there are negative effects that
go along with this hook-up culture. By hooking up, students may not realize that they could be
jeopardizing their health, their future career plans, or their emotional stability. Student affairs
professionals must focus on the needs of the students based on hook-up culture. There may
continue to be a rise in sexual assaults on college campuses as well as mental health issues.
Knowing how to handle these situations and getting the students to the help they need can be
helpful in keeping the students from experiencing all of the negative outcomes of the hook-up
culture.

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References
Banyard, V. L., Ward, S., Cohn, E. S., Plante, E. G., Moorhead, C., & Walsh, W. (2007).
Unwanted sexual contact on campus: A comparison of women's and men's experiences.
Violence and Victims, 22(1), 57-70. doi:10.1891/vv-v22i1a004
Bersamina, M. M., Zamboangab, B. L., Schwartzc, S. J., Donnelland, M. B., Hudsone, M.,
Weisskirchf, R. S., Kimg, S. Y., Agochah, V. B., Whitbournei, S. K., & Carawayj, S. J.,
(2013). Risky Business: Is there an association between casual sex and mental health
among emerging adults? Journal of Sex Research, 51(1).
Braithwaite, S. R., Coulson, G., Keddington, K., & Fincham, F. D., (2014). The influence of
pornography on sexual scripts and hooking up among emerging adults in college.
Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(1), 111-123.
Clay, R. A., (2013). Mental health issues in college on the rise. American Psychological
Association, 44(11) 54.
Downing-Matibag, T., & Geisinger, B. (2009). Hooking up and sexual risk taking among college
students: A health belief model perspective. Qualitative Health Research, 19(9), 11961209.
Jordan, C. E., Combs, J. L., & Smith, G. T. (2014). An exploration of sexual victimization and
academic performance among college women. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15(3), 191200. doi:10.1177/1524838014520637
Kahn A. S., Jackson J., Kully C., Badger K., & Halvorsen J., (2003). Calling it rape: Differences
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LaBrie, J. W., Hummer, J. F., Ghaidarov, T. M., Lac, A., & Kenney, S. R. (2014). Hooking up
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hookup behaviors and contentment. Journal of Sex Research, 51(1), 62-73.

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