Dating and Hooking Up in College: Meeting Contexts, Sex, and Variation by Gender, Partner's Gender, and Class Standing

Abstract

This study examined 13,976 dates and 12,068 hookup encounters at 22 colleges in the United States reported by students surveyed between 2005 and 2011 in the Online College Social Life Survey (OCSLS) to determine differences between dates and hookups in partner meeting context and sex during the encounter. Students most often met date and hookup partners through institutional settings or bars and parties, with approximately two-thirds of partners met in these venues. Those who had fewer potential partners on campus (women) were less likely to find partners in campus locations and less likely to find male sexual or dating partners but more likely to date women. Men and women engaging in same-sex encounters had higher rates of meeting partners through Internet sources. Hookups were associated with partners met in bars, parties, nightclubs, and college dormitories, and were twice as likely as dates to include sex. Students were more likely to go on dates with partners met on the Internet, which we theorize is a result of low levels of trust associated with that context. Patterns found are related to the association of meeting contexts with hookup scripts, risk and trust, and local partnering markets.