Beyond hookup culture: Current trends in the study of college student sex and where to next

Abstract

A prominent body of sexuality research on college-enrolled students in the twenty-first century focuses on "hookup" culture, marked by the prevalence of sexual encounters between students with no expectation for a relationship to develop. This article will review and respond to current themes in the literature on hookup culture on college campuses. I argue that this literature privileges the White, middle-class heterosexual experience, although less is known about how students who cannot or choose not to participate in this culture experience sexual relationships on college campuses. I place studies of hookup culture in conversation with those attentive to the effects of race, class, gender, and sexuality on access to, and experience of, hookup culture. I conclude with suggestions for future research, to include a renewed interest in sexual relationships forged outside of hookup cultures.

Navigating Campus Hookup Culture: LGBTQ Students and College Hookups

“…) and indicates that when LGBTQ students hook up, they often do so outside the dominant sexual market on campus and may even rely on networks outside the campus context altogether (Kuperberg and Padgett ; Tillapaugh ). Thus, in spite of the extensive research on hookup culture in general, there is limited data on how LGBTQ students navigate hookups on college campuses (Pham ).…”

"It Doesn't Seem Like a Big Deal": A Media Ecology Analysis of Digital Teen Sexuality and Sexting Education

“…Hookup culture, a term which heightened in popularity in the past decade, refers to sexual interaction between individuals who have no intention to maintain a relationship (Monto & Carey, 2014) and is largely associated with the sexual happenings on college campuses (Pham, 2017). Since this paper is aimed at addressing sexuality among adolescents, rather than college age adults, the conversation of collegiate hookups may seem beyond the scope of this topic.…”

“…By better understanding the sexual script of hooking-up, we can view the sexual interactions of young adults in a clearer light. Likewise, the moral panic over precarious teenage sexuality is heightened by the supposed irking of hookup culture (Pham, 2017).…”

“…Participation in hookup culture, particularly on college campuses is often perceived to be an encouraged aspect of college life (Kerner, 2013). Progression in views of gender roles, increased acceptance of 'non-traditional' dating schemas, and engagement in party lifestyles are all suspected contributors to a rise in casual, uncommitted sex (Pham, 2017). Similarly, heightened viewership of sexualized media is correlated to an increased endorsement of hookup culture on college campuses among students (Aubrey & Smith, 2016).…”

“…Yet, Holman and Sillars (2012) found that students "greatly overestimated the pervasiveness of hookups within the general student culture" (p. 209), suggesting incongruence between messages of a proposed culture of rampant casual sex and actual rates of hookups. In an altogether different frame, yet with strikingly similar outcomes to moral panic, this 'pluralistic ignorance' (Pham, 2017) is not the complete understanding of young people's sexual attitudes and actions. Similarly, moral panic over the suspected rise of teenage casual sex with strangers has been prevalent in recent years (Garcia, Reiber, Massey, & Merriwether, 2013;Monto & Carey, 2014), but likewise, the statistics are not as holistically convincing (Julian, 2018;Manning, Longmore, Copp, & Giordano, 2014;Monto & Carey, 2014).…”