University students find that the prevalence of hookup culture on college campuses conflicts with the potential for emotional attachments and quality communication.
To Maggie Palmiero, graduate student studying psychology, her definition of hookup culture is “any sexual activity that people are engaging in without the intention of necessarily forming a long-term relationship.”
With the sexual liberation movement in the 1960s introducing feminism and birth control, hookups became an option beyond traditional monogamous relationships. Before, the social norms in dating included going on dates before engaging in sexual intimacy. Nowadays, hookups are prevalent and increasingly socially acceptable. As a result, there has been an increase in casual sex.
Between 60% and 80% of North American college students have had some type of hookup experience. In hookup culture, the expectation is to engage in sexual activity without being in a long-term relationship.
With the freedom that comes with moving onto campus, students feel free to explore their sexuality without the watchful eye of their parents, according to Isabele Schuerman, sophomore in ACES.
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“I think a lot of people feel more comfortable hooking up in college because of that disconnect from their home and their family, and they can kind of almost do whatever they want,” Schuerman said. “A lot of people find a lot of freedom when they get to college.”
Although some people engage without developing an emotional attachment, Vicky Olaleye, senior in Media, finds some people can’t separate their emotions from sex.
“I’ve heard some people say that they tried hookup culture, and then they realized it wasn’t for them because they needed an emotional connection in order to have good sex,” Olaleye said.
Schuerman explained how they believe emotional attachments can form due to the intimate nature of hookups.
“There are a lot of intimacies within hooking up, so that intimacy kind of forces you to expose your own emotions and creates that emotional attachment between two people,” Schuerman said.
Schuerman has seen firsthand how hookups can evolve into “situationships,” which they describe as the gray area between hooking up with someone and having a relationship. Meanwhile, other hookups can become full-fledged relationships.
But for some, situationships can cause issues between people, especially if one person is more interested in a sexual relationship than the other, Olaleye said.
“The people that I’ve talked to concerning hookup culture, it’s just not something for them that was super sustainable, given that they either caught feelings or realized the person they were with was catching feelings,” Olaleye said.
Schuerman noticed many people on social media, like TikTok, have shared negative experiences regarding hookup culture due to people violating their boundaries.
Schuerman believes consent and communicating what the individuals involved are and aren’t willing to do are crucial to avoiding a negative hookup experience.
Despite the importance of communication, Palmiero observed that some people feel reluctant to share their boundaries during a hookup.
“People, in general, have a horrible fear of rejection, and sharing their emotions or sharing their hopes for the outcome of an interaction with another person can be really scary, especially if it’s a stranger: It doesn’t necessarily feel appropriate,” Palmiero said.
As many individuals have negative experiences with hookup culture, Olaleye has observed a shift on social media toward promoting abstinence instead of hookups. Some people do not find hookups as liberating as they are often viewed.
Although hookup culture has a negative connotation, Schuerman explained some people still engage in it because they find a thrill in not knowing what will happen with the experience.
“A lot of people will still do it because there’s a kind of excitement factor,” Schuerman said. “You don’t know the person, so it’s like, ‘This could be something new for me. I could discover something.’”
On the surface, hookup culture appears to revolve around immediate sexual gratification. However, hooking up with others can allow people to explore their sexuality and their sexual interests, Schuerman said.
“I’ve realized that a lot of people are kind of experimenting with themselves, so whether that be with sexuality or with their type, a lot of people are using this time to better understand themselves,” Schuerman said.
Everyone has different reasons for engaging in hookup culture. But at the end of the day, hookup culture boils down to people just wanting to have sex, according to Palmiero.
“We are designed to try to have sexual experiences with people,” Palmiero said. “It’s in our DNA. We also want emotional and sexual or nonsexual physical contact with other people, which releases vasopressin and oxytocin in our brains, which are big-time happy chemicals … I think the reason people are engaging in hookup culture is because humans are naturally horny, and it feels good.”
