Positioning the Booty-Call Relationship on the Spectrum of Relationships: Sexual but More Emotional Than One-Night Stands

Abstract

Most research on human sexuality has focused on long-term pairbonds and one-night stands. However, growing evidence suggests there are relationships that do not fit cleanly into either of those categories. One of these relationships is a ''booty-call relationship.'' The purpose of this study was to describe the sexual and emotional nature of booty-call relationships by (a) examining the types of emotional and sexual acts involved in booty-call relationships and (b) comparing the frequency of those acts in booty-call relationships to one-night stands and serious long-term relationships. In addition, the manner in which sociosexuality is associated with the commission of these acts was also examined. Demonstrative of booty-call relationships' sexual nature was individuals' tendency to leave after sex and infrequent handholding. In contrast, the romantic nature of booty-call relationships was demonstrated through the frequency of acts like kissing. The results suggest the booty-call relationship is a distinct type of relationship situated between one-night stands and serious romantic relationships.

Mate-selection and the Dark Triad: Facilitating a short-term mating strategy and creating a volatile environment

“…Fifth, we speculated that psychopathy might be associated with creating a hostile environment through mate choice; a prediction that deserves direct testing. Sixth, we have examined only two relationship contexts but more might exist beyond ''ideal types'' (Manning, Giordano, & Longmore, 2006, p. 462) like friends-with-benefits (Epstein, Calzo, Smiler, & Ward, 2009) and booty-call relationships (Jonason, Li, & Richardson, 2010c).…”

Casual Sexual Relationships and Experiences in Emerging Adulthood

“…Because of the brief nature of the experience, one-night stands generally take place with strangers or brief acquaintances (Wentland & Reissing, 2011). Not surprisingly, as these experiences last only one night, one-night stands include fewer emotional acts than booty calls or committed romantic relationships (Jonason, Li, & Richardson, 2011). Emotional acts are more common than sexual acts within one-night stands, suggesting that emotional acts (e.g., hand holding, kissing) may be used to bring the encounter quickly to sex (Jonason et al, 2011).…”

Hooking Up and Psychological Well-Being in College Students: Short-Term Prospective Links Across Different Hookup Definitions

“…One dimension along which definitions vary is relationship length. Sex with someone on only one occasion (i.e., a one-night stand) is likely the most iconic form of casual sex (Simpson & Gangestad, 1991); however, casual sex has also been defined as a sexual relationship that lasts from a few days (Regan & Dreyer, 1999) to a few weeks (Shulman et al, 2009), as well as an ongoing, and potentially years-long, sexual relationship with a nonromantic friend (e.g., ''friends with benefits''; Bisson & Levine, 2009) or with a person one sees primarily for sex (e.g., booty calls; Jonason, Li, & Richardson, 2011).…”